2024-07-13 23:21:32
Cooking is an old hobby
“Plov is a dish that not everyone can make. Not everyone can say that I know how to do and not everyone can do it. It (auth. past. – pilaf) includes all culinary processes, as they are”, assured Darius, who makes pilaf.
True, you won’t usually taste plov and paella like this. Before arriving, the host must be warned about how many people will be there and what kind of food they would like – because it takes more than an hour to prepare a real Uzbek, Persian pilaf, and the family works only on advance orders.
There was a time when making pilaf was like a hobby for a man, but life developed in such a way that cooking became a business.
Until then, Darius lived in Sweden for almost a decade, where he owned a company producing glass and aluminum structures. When the coronavirus pandemic hit and it was time to close the business, the man returned to Lithuania and started everything from scratch again.
“Everything turned out the way it should be,” he replies, when asked if there were any thoughts of staying in Scandinavia and taking up other activities.
Here, in the Alytus district right next to the Nemunas, Darius says he has everything he needs. Only after returning, the family bought a plot of land, a house next door and started new activities: renting kayaks, renting a sauna and cooking.
“If we make a small pilaf for about 30 people, it will take me about 6 hours to make it with preparation,” said the businessman, adding that around 8 a.m. it may take time to prepare a meal for several hundred people.
At that time, paella takes about 4 hours to prepare, bearing in mind that the preparation starts the day before. For example, the family prepares its own broth and does not use semi-finished products; saffron is closed in the evening and in no case is it added during the preparation of the dish; the ribs are prepared Texas BBQ style, which takes 7 hours.
“Imagine when you spend so much time on pilaf, there aren’t many options,” the interviewer assures. But people can choose what meat they want, and whether they want it at all. There is a vegetarian version of Persian pilaf adapted to kazan.
Although companies of friends or colleagues on vacation in nature like this food, these dishes have to be prepared even for a mournful lunch. “Once, in popular parlance, I “got drunk” with pilaf. Then I started asking people’s ages. Darius remembers. “I made a pilaf for the anniversary of his death and people over 80 years old came.”
Although everything would be fine, but such a dish is more popular among younger companies. However, a slightly different menu with Lithuanian chops and other dishes is also offered for the mourners’ lunch.
Fun not only to taste, but also to prepare
Although “Nemunas krantos inn” often has to prepare orders for hundreds of people, orders are accepted even if 4-5 people come. It is paella that can be ordered if there are at least 4 people, and pilaf – if there are at least 10.
The man also went to the birthplaces of these dishes, where he tasted a variety of flavors and types in order to discover his taste. And he really discovered his taste – this is evidenced by the laurels he won in local pilaf-making competitions.
Darius can also come to the place of celebration with all the food products and the cauldron. This summer, they already had a wedding, where the organizers asked them to come to nature and prepare a meal together while the guests lived in tents.
Neither water nor electricity – but it is possible to prepare pilaf.
Another unusual order also pleasantly surprised the homesteader. This time, a company of fifty people asked to come to Darius’s homestead and show them how to prepare paella.
Pilaf is a bit different – it is difficult to get tired of, it is filling, but it takes a long time to prepare. “People were not yet patient enough to invest those four hours for pilaf. If you want, please, but it will take four hours,” he warned.
Laughing, he says that there are really very interested people who take pictures of the spices and almost every step. But Darius is calm – spices and ingredients are public, many recipes can be found on the Internet.
However, he has his own secrets, which he does not reveal even to the most interested.
It is also interesting that people come here not only by land transport, but also by kayaks or inflatable boats. There are those traveling from the Polish border all the way to Nida.
Darius is one of the founders of the association that unites businessmen who want to revive tourism in Nemunas. We are waiting for the port to be installed, and the Nemunas river bed to be deepened.
As the interviewer says, a lot also depends on the municipality. It is promised that the waterway will connect Augustava (Poland) with Nida. It is also expected that with the projects started now, travelers will be able to come from Kaunas by boat to Alytus district to eat.
2024-07-13 23:21:32