Ohio Trip

Summary

This food memoir is about my relationship with my best friend, Niso. I traveled to Ohio by myself in April 2024 for the first time because Niso was getting married and moving there. I went through many feelings because we lived with each other, and now she was moving far away. It was the first step of adulthood, going our paths and creating our own stories. My best friend and I talked about everything on the plane and at the hotel. We recalled the first time we had Chuchvara, now sharing it once more before she gets married. The target audience is for people who are entering adulthood.

From April 24th to April 30th, I traveled to Ohio. Those days were super special to my best friend and me. They marked a special moment in our lives. I was traveling with my best friend and her family. It was my very first solo trip without my family. The excitement and tension was all over the place. As we headed to the airport, our journey began, yet we both knew that it was a bittersweet transition. We realized that after this trip, we'd be seeing each other less as our lives were taking different paths. This was the start of our separation.

My best friend's name is Bakhiriniso, but I only call her Niso. She has been my best friend for seven years now. We met through our parents back when we were just young middle schoolers. On the plane to Ohio, we talked endlessly, remembering how we met and how each day together had been special. It was way back in October 2017. I was in my room coloring and my dad came in with his best friend, who is Bakhiriniso's dad. Behind them was a girl in a white shirt and jeans who had really pretty hair.

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My dad said, “Say hi; she’s is my best friend's daughter. She's new in America and she will be going to your school”.

Then, my dad and her dad left us in the room so we could get to know each other and start being friends.

The entire plane ride was spent reflecting on our memories, how we met, became partners in crime, and spent every week together, meeting up and having fun. Now we are adults, and she's getting married and moving to Ohio.

When we arrived and stepped outside, the weather was totally different from Arizona. The air was refreshing and cool, with a crisp, autumn breeze and the scent of fresh nature.

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When we arrived at the hotel, my friend's parents treated us to a meal,but the soups were too oily, and the desserts were too sweet, so Niso and I didn’t eat much. For the first three days, we only ate fruits and vegetables, refusing to eat anything else. By the 3rd day, we were both tired of eating the same fruit and vegetables. My aunt lives in Ohio, though two and a half hours away from where we were, but she eventually came to visit us with homemade food. She brought chuchvara. Niso and I were so overjoyed because chuchvara is a comforting dish my mom always made every time I had a trip and came home with Niso. The chuchvara my aunt made was still warm and had a fresh, fragrant aroma. My mom would sometimes make it when I was home and I could smell all the broth wafting up to my office. The smell made me feel like Jerry from Tom and Jerry floating toward the scent of good food.

Since my aunt is from Central Asia, she and my mom were taught the same recipe by my grandmother. My grandmother would always tell anyone whom she was teaching that “everyone should cook with their hearts”. This phrase means preparing food with love, care, and passion. When cooking it is about putting our emotions and personal touch and infusing the dish. Cooking food is not about following the exact recipe, it's more focused on adding our own personality and feelings, making the meal special and meaningful for others.

Ingredients for the dough:

-all-purpose white flour (300 - 400 grams or as needed)

-an egg

-salt

-water (3/4 cup)

-oil (vegetable, olive, sunflower - doesn't matter) 1 big spoon

Ingredients for the filling/stuffing and broth:

-ground beef (200 mg) (or choice of meat)

-4 onions (small)

-2 potatoes (regular sized)

-1 tomato

-1 carrot

-spices (curry, pepper, basil, cumin, etc. ) [up to your preference]

-oil (vegetable, olive, sunflower - doesn't matter)

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Directions

This dish takes about two to four hours to prepare. The part that consumes most of the time is making the dumpling dough. Firstly, my family's recipe instructions are to make the dough. To make the dough you need to first pour water (lukewarm) into a bowl. You then need to add an egg and salt into the bowl and whisk it until the egg and salt have been dissolved. Slowly add the flour to make a soft dough. This particular step is tricky because you need to have the dough at a certain pressure. The dough cannot be kneaded too hard; it has to be soft and not sticky. Once the dough is ready, wrap the dough and leave it for 30 minutes to rise. Once the dough has risen, take the dough and split it into sections, wrap them into the bag, and set aside for rising again! Until the dough is risen, make the filling. Start by peeling two onions and cutting them into tiny pieces. After the onions are chopped add them to the ground beef, with the spices and oil of your choice. My family would usually add pepper, coriander, cumin, and salt. For oil, they would use olive oil. Once the dough is ready take it and roll out the dough. Cut the dough into squares and put the filling in and fold it however you like. Until the dough is risen, make the broth. Peel and cut onions, potatoes, and carrots into squares, and dice the tomatoes. Add oil to the pot and add the onions until they are brown, then add all the vegetables and fry it in the pot until you can see the vegetables softening. Once they are soft add two liters of water and once it starts to boil add the species and lastly add the dumplings.

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We sat outside in a cozy, comfy chair in the evening eating the warm chuchvara my aunt had made us. Sharing chuchvara with my aunt, Niso, and her family made it special. The chuchvara was warm, soft, and had a vibrant burst of flavor, just like how the evening was. With each bite, our conversation flowed easily as we talked about our carefree days when we thought adulthood would not come this fast and it was distant in the future. But now, as we ate, we reflected on how our lives were changing, with new jobs, relationships, and bigger responsibilities. Everyone else at the table talked about how they would ask Niso where I was or everyone would ask me where Niso was. It was as if, when one of us wasn’t around, people would simply look for the other because we were always together.

My aunt said, “Annem bazen ben evdeyken bunu yapardı ve üst kattaki ofisime gelen et suyu kokusunu alabiliyordum. Güzel yemek kokusu aldıklarında Tom ve Jerry'deki Jerry gibi uçuyorum”, which she explained was her way of describing the bittersweetness of adulthood.

At that moment I felt an odd sense of separation. It felt as though this might be the last time I was going to have a meal with her, as if I wouldn’t see her again. The feeling was painful but happy, it was a feeling that wasn’t understandable, and although I felt emotional, the tears would not fall. This dinner highlighted the different paths we were about to take; from friends living life and making stories together to individuals starting new stories on separate journeys.

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I was grateful and thanked my aunt for making this dish for us. She knew that we didn’t eat oily or overly sweet food, so she specially prepared this dish for us.

My aunt said, “Esingizda bo'lsin, bu taomingizni birinchi taomingiz edi va endi bu taomni maxsus taom sifatida doimiy eslang”.

Afterward, my aunt said that it reminded Niso and me of our first meeting and of our visits to my house after every trip. Our first meal together was on the first day we met, when my mom decided to make chuchvara, and shared this meal as our first meal together as friends.

Every time after a trip, my mom would welcome us home with this meal because my mom always said that it provides protein and various vitamins from vegetables, meats, and dairy. She would set the table for us and call everyone to the dining table

“KELINGLAR DASTURHONGA OVQAT TAYYOR”.

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We would race downstairs and say, “Voy tayyor kilib boldizmi, rahmat”. The minute we started eating, we would talk about the trips we took to our families. Everyone in the house would be there to eat this meal, my family and Niso's family. Since our dads were close childhood friends, we would be at each other’s houses way too often.

After finishing the chuchvara, we concluded our conversation by stating that though our paths may be different, our bond and connection would never change.

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