My story began on August 17, 2006 when my mom, younger sister and I came to the United States. I am a Korean, who was born and raised in Uzbekistan, but my native language is Russian. My father who was already in the country rented for us a small apartment in Clifton, New Jersey. I felt so lost and lonely in a new environment. Everything seemed so different in America; different people, buildings, streets, language and food. Lepyoshka is my favorite bread. I was so used to eat lepyoshka every time I had meal back in my country, but none of the grocery stores around us in New Jersey were selling lepyoshka. Lepyoshka is the traditional bread in Uzbekistan. It is made in Tandir, which is a large open fire stove. The taste and aroma of this bread cannot be compared to any other. I was not the only one in our family who missed this bread, so my mom decided to try to make homemade lepyoshka for the first time. It was not the same, but it was close to what we eat in Uzbekistan. A few months later, we decided that it was hard for us to live in the area where no one spoke Russian, so my family moved to New York City, where we felt more like home with familiar food and people who spoke our language.

– DL

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