Saturday, May 19, 2012

Fruit in Uzbekistan: Photo Collection from A Fruitarian's Perspective

At Robert is Here tropical fruit stand in Homestead, FL by papayas and mamey 
Assalomu alaykum!

Brian here with a fun photo post to take a break from Uzbek self-study lessons. So far I have posted lesson 1, 2, and 3, and will be continuing with the next ones tomorrow. I'm making a lot of progress with introductory Uzbek material and am really enjoying it, very excited for Arizona!

One of my greatest interests is healthy living as I blog about at my main website Brian on Health and will talk more about here at this site too. I have been involved with vegetarian, vegan, raw food, and other natural health movements for over 7 years now and have come to adapt many parts of these eating styles into my life.

I basically identify my diet these days as fruitarian. In other words, I eat fruit — as fresh, ripe, and sweet as possible — and a LOT of it. While I do eat other natural foods too, as far as most people are concerned, I am a fruitarian. (You can learn more about my food ideas here or email me here, many questions are beyond the scope of this post.)

A fruit-based diet is one of my passions and is something that many people who know me remember me for. Learning to purchase, manage, ripen, and eat fruit has been an incredible journey. I've faced some challenges in the past but have amassed quite a few tips and tricks along the way at this point and it's a very enjoyable way to eat for me.

As a fruit lover and connoisseur (they call us "Fruit Hunters"), my main interest when it comes to traveling and cuisine hence is to learn about the kinds and quality of fruit that is grown at my destination. I love to visit markets, try new varieties, find familiar favorites, bargain with vendors, take pictures, make videos, and even post goofy photo blogs like this one, all about my obsession with fruit.
At a durian stall in Chinatown, NYC in the winter (holding box of persimmons, yum!)
Uzbekistan and Fruit

Uzbekistan is a beautiful and generally warm country that has a climate well suited for growing many delicious fruits. Its cuisine and agriculture is particularly reminiscent of that of Mediterranean countries like Turkey or Greece, with a little bit of Middle East and Asian influence as well.

Though I have not yet visited there myself, from what I have seen online, Uzbekistan looks like a great place for fruit eaters with an abundance of very high-quality ripe tree fruits, melons, grapes, figs, stonefruit, and so on available in markets anywhere for good prices. This post is dedicated to sharing some of the images of Uzbek fruit culture I have found thus far. Please enjoy!

Tip: Click on a photo to browse the collection as a set in theater mode.

Fresh tree fruit grown on fertile Uzbek land
Abundance of fruit for sale at Samarkand market
Rich Uzbek fruit crop on display
Bargaining for apples and grapes at market
Beautiful image of ripe tree fruit in Samarkand
Shiny lemons and apples and oranges for sale 
Buying fruit at a roadside market in Uzbekistan
Delicious grapes, apples, and more 
Dried apricots and prunes from Uzbekistan
Bustling fruit market in Urgut
Gourmet melons hanging in Khiva
Impeccably carved Uzbek melons
Inside juicy Uzbek pomegranates
Local vendors selling fruit in Tashkent
Man proudly displays melon crop
May strawberry harvest in Uzbekistan
Melon seller at fruit market in Samarkand
More juicy melons at market scene in Samarkand
Pomegranates in lovely Uzbek-style box
Fresh quince harvest in Uzbekistan
Red pepper vendor at Uzbek market
Rich harvest of gourds and squash also
Selling fresh cherries at market
USAID Uzbekistan fruit sampling event
Delicious fruit selections at market
Uzbek tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and squash
Uzbek women smiling at peach and grape stall
Woman selecting fruit at Urgut bazaar
Beautiful, aren't they? I will post more about my lifestyle here soon at Uzbek Brian, especially as my summer program begins and I get everything set up with sourcing food while I'm in Tempe (I'm currently seeking out good wholesalers who can deliver cases).

Keep in touch, and eat fruit!

Thank you to the following resources for information:
Be sure to drop me a comment if you have any photos or stories to add.

Xayr,
Brian

2 comments:

  1. Hey Brian, I like this. As you know, fruits are my passion as well! You know what? this reminds me of something. The first person in the world that invented raw vegan life style was from Iran. I met with him along my father and sister around 1980. However he was originally from old Russia. I read Persian version of his book back then which was about 200 pages. The original book, was over 1000 pages and it was in Russian (I don’t know exactly what language). In the book said that his sister, who was living in Russia, started a raw vegan meet-up back in 1960’s or 1970’s and the number of members went to a few thousand! His name is Arshavir Ter Hovannessian (Aterhov). He’s the one that David Wolf and others plagiarized his book. I just tried to look him up in Wikipedia, but it’s gone! A few years ago he was there!

    Anyway, I thought you might find lots of raw vegan or fruitarian clubs in Uzbekistan. Also the original book might be in Uzbek, and you will be able to read it in near future!

    Take care,
    Masood Tavalla

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    Replies
    1. Hey Masood!

      Once again thank you for the lovely comments. It's great to know someone is checking out the blog :)

      Yes I've heard of Aterhov and the whole David Wolfe fiasco with that. Really interesting. While I am sure there was a lot of raw food and fruit eating done back then, I am not so sure their version of "raw veganism" reflects what is being promoted today, which is good anyway because I hardly identify with that community anymore. I just like fruit! :)

      I would love to go to Uzbekistan sometime in the next few years and totally pig out on peaches, grapes, melons, persimmons, berries, apricots, dates, plums, apples, oranges, pears, and pomegranates right from the tree, yum! Perhaps we could go there someday! :)

      Brian

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