Sumalak is a food traditional prepared here around the Navruz holiday. From my understanding it is made from sprouted wheat and water. The cooking usually last a full day until the next morning, and it is a very social gathering. It is cooked outdoors in a very large pot (kazan), with lots and lots of stirring. When finished it is a brown paste with a very earthy flavor, a little too earthy for me. A friend had a sumalak cooking at her house, and I was invited over.
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| A few of the buckets of soaked wheat |
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| This is the lady hired by the group to provide her kazan (seriously huge pot) and her sumalak expertise |
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| The guys stirring under the instruction of the experts. It appeared to be a hot and splattery job. This group was mixed male and female, but it is still quite common for this to be a very social gathering of women only. |
I love getting to see these little cultural glimpses.
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