Fresh ‘manty’ and cheap figs: a post-Soviet supermarket becomes a must-visit spot in NYC | New York

After I first stepped into the Tashkent Grocery store in Brighton Seashore, I might barely get round. The shop was bustling, filled with the acquainted unsmiling faces of post-Soviet folks wanting to get their arms on meals like manty – intricately formed dumplings full of minced beef, onion and, relying on the place you’re from, pumpkin for the delicate sweetness. Or chak-chak, a dessert product of small items of fried golden dough held collectively by honey syrup. Kompot, too, a drink made by simmering seasonal or dried fruits.Rising up in Kazakhstan, these have been staples at school cafeterias and at house. Manty was one of many first dishes my mother taught me to make – I assumed she was a magician, the best way she rolled the stretchy dough out so extensive and skinny, but thick sufficient to carry the filling with out tearing. I used to be not often allowed to have soda or sugary drinks, however selfmade kompot with fruits and berries from our backyard was an exception. And although I by no means mastered chak-chak, the store-bought model was all the time a deal with. As I obtained older and traveled throughout different former Soviet republics, I discovered consolation in understanding I might all the time discover plov and samsas at eateries in Moscow, Baku and Tbilisi.After I moved to New York Metropolis in 2019, I felt that immediate sense of familiarity at Tashkent, the biggest and on the time closest grocery store specializing in Central Asian meals. I might repeatedly make the hour-and-a-half journey to the far finish of Brooklyn, stocking up on my favourite spices and grains like buckwheat, or grechka, earlier than lugging all the products again on to the B practice to higher Manhattan.High: An worker locations recent samsas into the new meals bar.Backside: Plov with lamb. {Photograph}: Julius Constantine Motal/The GuardianThis yr, the journey felt much less like a pilgrimage, as the most recent Tashkent Grocery store opened in Manhattan’s stylish West Village, identified not just for its simple subway entry but additionally for its abundance of influencers. Since March, meals bloggers have introduced a newfound recognition to the shop on social media, turning typically ignored Central Asian meals into must-tries for curious New Yorkers. Maybe most infamous is Tashkent’s sizzling bar, with its plov – a rice and meat dish infused with cumin and carrots – and samsas, meat or potato pastries wrapped within the flakiest dough conceivable and dotted with black sesame seeds. Accounts corresponding to sistersnacking and babytamago have taken viewers by this sizzling bar, its numerous dishes unfold throughout illuminated warming trays, and urged them to not sleep on the smoked fish counter. Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani gave his personal rave overview for Tashkent’s manty.When Odiljon Tursunov and his household arrived in america within the early 2000s, they couldn’t discover the normal bread and selfmade halal sausages they ate again house in Uzbekistan. In order that they opened the primary Tashkent in 2012 in Coney Island, proper after Hurricane Sandy hit, naming it for the capital of Uzbekistan. Over time, it grew from one storefront to 5 New York areas, in addition to a wholesale sausage firm and slaughterhouse facility in New Jersey.High: Tashkent is famed for its meals bar.Backside: Clients try. {Photograph}: Julius Constantine Motal/The GuardianAs of 2019, greater than 1.2 million folks from former Soviet republics dwell within the US. A part of Tashkent’s success got here from strategically opening areas throughout Brooklyn and Queens the place numerous Central Asian immigrants – Kazakhs, Kyrgyzes, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Turkmens – in addition to japanese Europeans settled. “Forest Hills has a really massive Uzbeki Bukharian inhabitants,” stated Misa Khayriddinova, head of accounting and human sources for Tashkent, who herself is initially from Bukhara, Uzbekistan. “The Coney Island and Brighton Seashore areas are predominantly the place Uzbeki folks settled after immigrating right here, and there’s a whole lot of Russians and Ukrainians who immigrated right here within the Nineteen Nineties.”With the West Village location, the house owners are accommodating their present buyer base whereas additionally introducing new clients to distinct flavors from the Central Asian diaspora.Traditionally, folks in areas that are actually Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan have been nomadic, counting on dishes heavy in meat and dairy, whereas folks in settled populations that are actually Uzbekistan and Tajikistan cultivated crops corresponding to carrots, rice and cumin. Proximity to China and Iran affected the gastronomy of the area, as soon as the center of the Silk Street. However nothing was as important in reshaping the delicacies because the formation of the Soviet Union in 1922. The practically 70-year rule not solely unfold Russian and Slavic dishes to Central Asia but additionally introduced on shortages of meals, shifts in agriculture and collectivization of farms, remodeling the flavors of the area as folks tailored.Tashkent’s West Village location is the chain’s latest addition. {Photograph}: Julius Constantine Motal/The GuardianTashkent sources merchandise from the previous Soviet Union, together with a wide range of cheeses from Georgia, bread from Ukraine, and wholesale nuts and raisins from Uzbekistan. “It’s a fusion of each American merchandise and Central Asian merchandise,” Khayriddinova stated.Attributable to Manhattan actual property prices, together with the influence of congestion pricing on supply vans, Tashkent raised the costs on sizzling meals by no less than a greenback this yr. Aziz Muzdybayev, a Kazakh immigrant, additionally observed the West Village location had fewer offers when he stopped by along with his household. “We don’t actually go to Dealer Joe’s or Entire Meals,” Muzdybayev stated. “When [we] miss the meals from house and wish the meals your physique is craving, we like driving right down to Brighton, getting a portion of plov and a few ayran drinks, after which strolling over to the seaside to spend time with household.”Tashkent’s West Village location brings collectively clients of all ages. {Photograph}: Julius Constantine Motal/The GuardianJesse Badash, who lives in Queens and works in Manhattan, excitedly anticipated the West Village location opening for some time. “I’m very involved in Georgian and Azerbaijani meals. The costs appear a bit bit dearer than the one in Brighton, however cheap. The figs have been ridiculously low-cost,” Badash stated as he browsed the shop with a buddy.For Khayriddinova, seeing Tashkent’s signature inexperienced grocery luggage within the wild is a significant level of pleasure. “Central Asia is just not well-known,” she stated. “For us to be the primary model to introduce the gorgeous style and authenticity of Uzbeki tradition and meals is fantastic. It highlights a whole lot of what Central Asia really is: the hospitality, the distinctive style of what we provide.”One Tuesday night, I headed to the West Village Tashkent through the post-work dinner rush. I didn’t hear as a lot Russian or different Central Asian languages as I might in Brooklyn. However as I shuffled from one finish of the crowded market to the opposite, I watched somebody on the salad bar curiously examine the herring beneath the fur coat whereas one other stuffed a container with olivier, each staples of New Yr’s Eve. Among the many vivid lights and crowded cabinets, I noticed newcomers keen to strive unfamiliar dishes, and immediately acknowledged the longtime patrons trying to find acquainted tastes that introduced again recollections. It gave me a uncommon sense of recognition – recognition of my meals and tradition that for therefore lengthy had been flattened into the legacy of the previous Soviet Union, regardless of having a wealthy identification of its personal.