Central Asia's great summer ritual: the world's finest muskmelons eaten cold with kurt, the sharp dried sour-milk balls that cut through sweetness like nothing else
Origin: Uzbekistan
From the journey of Musk Melon.
Uzbekistan produces some of the world's most extraordinary melons; over 150 named varieties, cultivated in the Fergana Valley and around the oasis cities of Samarkand and Bukhara. The summer heat is ferocious, and the melon is the answer. Uzbek muskmelons (called qovoq or ayniqsa) range from small and round to long and torpedo-shaped; some varieties are so fragrant they perfume the entire market. The great medieval traveller Ibn Battuta wrote that he had never tasted anything as extraordinary as Bukharan melon. In Uzbekistan, melon is eaten with kurt; small, rock-hard balls of dried, salted, fermented goat or sheep's milk; the savoury sharpness of which is the perfect counterpoint to the melon's extraordinary sweetness. This pairing is one of the most ancient food combinations in Central Asia.
Kurt (also written qurt or qurt) is one of Central Asia's oldest preserved foods: a hard, sharp, slightly sour dried cheese made by straining fermented milk and rolling it into balls with salt. It is the food of nomads: protein-dense, shelf-stable for years, and an essential companion on long journeys. Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire (himself from the Fergana Valley), wrote at length about Uzbek melons and their quality. He transported melon seeds from Central Asia to India: one of the vectors by which fine muskmelon varieties spread to South Asia.
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