Monday, March 23, 2009

The Bread of Life

The correct answer is the bread stamper. Uyghurs use this tool to make nan bread. This is a very important cultural food. In fact Uyghurs will say that Nan is the bread of life. And for that reason they would never consider eating it outside, for fear that a crumb might fall to the ground and be wasted. In the same way nan is never to be thrown or wasted. It will keep for days. When it is too hard to eat on its own, it is often soaked in tea. Nan really is a staple in the Uyghur diet but since it comes in six or seven varieties it is hard to get bored of. They used the same type of dough to make all the different types of nan. The difference is either in how much the dough was kneaded ahead of time (more kneading will produce a more firm finished product) or how it is shaped before it is placed into the tonur. But they are all delicious, and they have all been stamped by the handy nan stamping tool. On every street corner there are nan stands, and the intoxicating smell of fresh baked bread fills the air.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That guy is awesome! Here, in Israel we have sorta like the same thing...more in the Arab areas than Jewish ones. But, within the Jewish culture, you are not allowed to throw out any bread either! Once I got yelled at for doing so, but now I know!! hehehe.

I think I need to come visit your corner of the world...looks so fasinating!!!