First into the ring is an absolute all-rounder.

Uzbek Plov is a dish I came to know while living in Russia and is memorable for being the first meal I have ever eaten which was cooked over an oil barrel. This is the inspiration for the first meal pairing:

* Vegetarian: Crunchy Chickpea Pilaff
* Meat: Plov

In both meals, we have the sweetness of the carrots combined with a cumin punch, set off with in one case, crunchy chickpeas and in the other succulent lamb. I love these dishes for their bold flavours and combination of textures!

The backstory

While in St Petersburg, I made friends with some migrant workers from Uzbekistan, you will see a couple of recipes I learned from them throughout this blog as Uzbek cuisine some of the most delicious food I have ever eaten.

My new group of friends were construction workers and one of them, Amvar, had a birthday party. He invited me to come out of town, to an old window factory where about 200 men were living, working and sleeping before commuting into town for their construction jobs.

They sat a large round dish on top of a makeshift oil barrel stove and cooked plov for 20 people over a raw flame and amazing flatbreads lepeshki from a woodfired stove they had made themselves. We ate on a table, shoehorned between bunk beds in their dormitory room. The meal was mindblowing.