Not a Recipe For Plov

I have an Italian friend, Giovanni, who spent a year living and working in Uzbekistan. Now, Central Asia can be a culture shock to any Westerner, but for an Italian, with his love of Mediterranean cuisine and fine wine, the acclimatization to Uzbek cooking can be particularly difficult. In Bukhara, where he was working, he would ask the manager of the local cafe what was for lunch every day. Monday? "Plov and shashlik." Tuesday? "Shashlik and plov." Wednesday? "Plov and shashlik." The one time she answered "Plov, shashlik and stuffed peppers," he nearly fell off his chair.

But if Uzbek dishes are no delight for an Italian, neither are the Uzbeks particularly fond of unfamiliar foreign foods. I was visiting Giovanni when he decided to treat his local colleagues to an Italian specialty: homemade pesto, made with basil fresh from his garden. They hated it.

Not one to give up, Giovanni later made a second attempt, this time for the more sophisticated palates of Tashkent. From extravagantly expensive imported Italian ingredients he lovingly prepared a mushroom risotto, the traditional northern Italian rice dish.

His guests looked shocked when he brought out the steaming platter from the kitchen. An awkward silence descended as they first tasted it, then glanced uncomfortably at each other. Everyone seemed embarrassed, and Giovanni could not understand what was wrong. Finally, as he took the uneaten portions back into the kitchen at the end of the evening, one of his guests took him aside, and out of earshot of the others said: "Listen, Giovanni. Next time you try to make an Uzbek plov, why don't you ask me for advice first? I'd be happy to help."

If the locals didn't like Giovanni's mushroom risotto, they would probably faint if he served them a dish like this one. But keep an open mind: It's delicious, and strawberry season only comes once a year.

Strawberry-Black Pepper Risotto
20g (2 tablespoons) olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
300g (1 1/2 cups) arborio rice
3/4 liter (3 cups) hot salted chicken stock, kept simmering
250g (1 pint) fresh strawberries, cleaned and sliced
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
coarsely ground black pepper

Saute onion in oil over moderate heat until soft. Add rice and saute until well coated and lightly toasted. Now begin gradually adding the hot chicken broth 100 ml (1/2 cup) at a time, stirring until each ladleful is absorbed before adding more broth. Continue gradually adding the broth, stirring constantly, until rice is tender but firm, about 15-20 minutes. Add 1/3 of the strawberries together with one ladleful of broth during the cooking process, for color. When all the broth has been added and the rice is done, stir in the remaining berries. Add grated Parmesan to taste and top generously with freshly grated pepper. Serves two.