Pilaf dish serves up opportunity to educate people about Central Asian culture

It was the first time that a cook-off was held in Bloomington for a famous Central Asian and Uralic dish. Seven countries competed but only one would take home the trophy for best pilaf – a rice and meat dish.\nA group of more than 150 members of the IU and Bloomington communities attended a pilaf cook-off festival at the Leo R. Dowling International Center on Monday night.\nThe seven groups that competed were the Uyghurs, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Iranians, Turkmens and a surprise contestant – Americans. Turkey was the only Central Asian country that did not participate.\nFatima Morrisroe, the outreach coordinator for the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center, came up with the idea for the cook-off, saying Central Asian countries have been eating pilaf for centuries, yet students from these countries have never had a competition at IU to determine who made the best dish.\n“The countries have never competed against each other,” Morrisroe said. “The idea behind this pilaf contest is that the winner, whichever country it is, will be the one to cook for the Navruz Festival, a New Year celebration for the coming of spring, on March 24.”\nEvan Muchmore, a graduate student in Central Asian politics and languages, addressing the audience, said that in Uzbekistan, pilaf may have rice, meat, carrots, onions and spices. He said that the most common meat is from lamb.\n“Pilaf is usually eaten once or twice a day,” Muchmore said. “Families usually eat it on Thursday because it means good luck on this day.”\nHe said that in Uzbekistan, it is not polite to tell your guests to leave when an event is over so to signify the finale of an event, pilaf is served.\nWearing a “ton,” a colorful ceremonial outfit for young Muslim men, Muchmore recited an Uzbek proverb.\n“If you have just a little bit of money left, then eat pilaf. If you have just one day left, then eat pilaf,” he said.\nBill Fierman, the director of the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center, said that he hopes participants who are unfamiliar with Central Asian culture will be inspired to learn more about their customs and traditions through cuisine.\n“I think it is important to get a sense of the cuisine of another part of the world and also meet some people from the region,” he said.\nTom Schafbuch, a senior in Slavic languages and political science, who spent time in Russia where he ate frequently at an Uzbek cafe, described the different versions of pilaf he was eating at the contest.\n“Most of it consists of beef and rice. There are many different countries here, so some of them here have salmon, some have chicken, but primarily most are meat, rice and carrots,” he said.\nDavid Knighting, acting president of the Navruz Student Association, said that he wanted the participants to learn about different cultures throughout Central Asia.\n“I hope people appreciate the commonalities but also diversity in this region,” he said.\nDr. Gulnisa Nazarova, a visiting professor teaching the Uyghur language, won the cook-off. Her pilaf was cooked with lamb. The people’s choice award went to the Tajiks.\n“I am very happy,” Nazarova said. “I did not expect to win because I know that all the pilaf was excellent.”\nAdorned with traditional Uzbek attire, Sitora Khatamova, a Fulbright scholar teaching Uzbek, performed a dance to upbeat music.\n“The dance has meaning; the song was about a boy and a girl,” Khatamova said. “He is saying the girl is beautiful and so the hand movements show this.”\nThe judges for the event were Michael Zennie, Indiana Daily Student reporter; Cindy Bradley, food columnist from The Herald-Times; Aggie Sarkissian, cooking instructor from the Bloomington Cooking School and Anne Pyburn, professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Gender Studies.\nPyburn said she had to judge the food on appearance, flavor and texture.\n“All the dishes were very carefully prepared,” she said. “It was a difficult choice to make.”