1. Similar to last nite: starter of veg salad with succulent carrots, fresh peas, bits of boiled egg white, tender potatoes, fresh lettuce, lightly flavored oil and lemon with dill–deliciously recognizable elements; chicken soup with fresh chicken chunks on the bone with rice noodle and dill; tandoori bread, and jasmine tea in chinese soup bowls. And yes, dry red wine. I could eat this as an entire meal!
2. sorry, not my party. A banquet downstairs, with typical Uzbeki music and food.
3. Perfectly braised lamb and potatos with lamb fat and marinated onions in lemon and dill on the side–piping hot and cooked to perfection–at the Samarkand Restaurant not far from my hotel.
4. A whole half from the market the day before just for me! Why haven’t the Chinese figured this one out?!?