Baker of Margilan
Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan 2012
There is a street in Margilan that could be called Baker Street. Bread is baked in small shops lining both sides of the street. Each shop is just big enough for the wood fired oven and the baker. The bread is piled in large flat baskets and set on stands that look like old baby carriages.
Our guide, Anvar, told us that there are three kinds of bread: bread that is good for one day, bread that is good for one week and bread that lasts a year. The bread that lasts a year is part of a farewell ritual for a son who is leaving for the army. Before setting out, he takes a bite of the bread and his mother puts it away for the happy day when he returns. Then he sits and enjoys a meal of that same loaf of bread.
The bread of Uzbekistan was particularly delicious and each baker put his own special touches on it. I especially liked the bread with Nigella seeds sprinkled over the top. They have a slight medicinal taste that is pleasing.
Hot as Hell
This man is a dumpling baker. He is leaning into a tandoor oven to carefully place each unbaked dumpling on the wall of the tandoor. He aligns them within a quarter-inch of each other to maximize space in the oven. That means his head and upper body are in the 350 degree oven for a few seconds with each dumpling. He’d place a dumpling which was handed to him by his boss (I guess it was his boss) and come up only to have to take another dumpling and stick his head in the inferno of the oven once again.
I am guessing the temperature. It could be 350 degrees or 400 degrees. The tandoor itself can be heated to nearly 1000 degrees, but no one could withstand that temperature. The poor man: each time he sat up to take a new dumpling, his face and hand would be beet red and his eyes would flow with tears. He was miserable. How did he do that job day after day?
Lined Up Like Bats in a Cave
There must be a better way!!!
Photography note: To tell a story get the wide shot, the medium shot and the upclose shot. Try to think what is important and shoot it so that you don’t really need words. My baker, the top shot, is a bit blurry showing motion. He has to move fast and a blur can indicate that. My bread is a bit blurry,too. That isn’t a good thing, but I don’t mind and I’m the boss. Only a photographer would notice is what I’m thinking.
My dumpling man is sharp and my upclose shot of the dumplings shows how carefully he places them. Oh, I can’t get over how he must suffer each day! I tried to find him some goggles but none that I found can withstand the heat of the oven. They will melt!