Sharing culture and memories with Uzbek dumplings

WNYC News

Food has a way of bringing back memories. WNYC's Community Partnerships Desk is asking folks in our area to share stories about family recipes that mean something special to them. We talked to Damira Inatullaeva, a Brooklyn resident, and the Uzbek instructor with The League of Kitchens.

The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

I am from Samarkand, Uzbekistan. I came to New York 10 years ago, and now I live in Brooklyn, Borough Park. The favorite recipe of our family is Uzbek dumplings. In different places of Uzbekistan, the name of this dish is different, but in Samarkand, we name it Barak. It's very, very simple ingredients: flour, egg, water, dough, a little bit oil, onion, meat, and salt for filling. With a small amount of ingredients, you can make 50 pieces of Barak, very fast. I can do it very fast.

I remember how my mother made these dumplings and I and my siblings, we sit around the table folding Barak, and when people came to our home, mom did Barak. All people who tried it, considered it the best Barak in the world. So do I! When I eat it, it is like memory of my childhood -- when my mom was alive, and it is a memory of happy times when all the family was all together.

Now I have very good opportunity to share not only with my kids and my grandkids, but also with other people in the United States because I'm the Uzbek instructor for the League of Kitchens. Through the food we share with our children or with other people, we share our culture. In another way, if you want to save culture, save recipe.