The Silk Route has created a mouth-watering fusion of cuisines from Europe to Asia
Due to its location the fabled Silk Route Uzbekistan is known for its unique culture, history, and food. Uzbek cuisine is a fusion of various cuisines such as Russian, Turkish, Mongolian, and Persian. The dishes are generally rich in flavor and have a unique blend of spices and herbs that make them stand out from other cuisines.
Sacred Bread
Many dishes go back hundreds of years and need strict rituals. For example, Obi-non, the typical Uzbek bread is traditionally served to welcome guests and is considered sacred. So much so that it is considered the height of rudeness to place it on the ground or upside down . It is also torn by hand, never cut by a knife.
Delicious Plov
After bread the most popular Uzbek dish is “Plov”, lamb or mutton with rice, the recipe of which slightly varies from region to region. Plov is made in a large cauldron with lamb, beef, or chicken. The chef flavours the rice with spices such as cumin, coriander, and turmeric, and adds a garnish of fried onions, carrots, and raisins or quince. You’d typically serve Plov with a side of salad or yogurt, and it is a staple dish in Uzbek cuisine.Typical ingredients are raisins, peas and quince.
History of Plov
Men are the traditional cooks of Plov, and master plov chefs are called oshpaz. Many consider 10th-century Central Asian scholar Ibn Sina (Avicenna) the “father of plov,” as he wrote down the recipe for what he called palov osh. The Uzbek-born warrior Tamerlane, who ruled Central Asia in the 1300s, is also said to have served it to his armies. There is a saying that plov should be cooked outdoors by a man to really make it ‘sing’.
Other tasty dishes are “Manti” and “Somsa” (dumplings filled with different meat, herbs and vegetables) and “Shashlik” (savory lamb barbecue). Shashlyk, known also as kebabs, is skewered meat cooked over charcoal.
Samsa (meat pies) is a savory pastry pie made with flaky dough and stuffed with meat, onion or pumpkin, potato, cabbage, mushrooms or nuts. They are flavoured with cumin and other spices. They are cooked in a tandyr – traditional cylindrical clay oven, heated with coal or firewood. Samsa can be found in bakeries throughout Uzbekistan and is often served as a snack or appetizer.
Lagman is another popular dish that is similar to Chinese noodles. It is made with thick hand-pulled noodles that are stir-fried with meat (usually beef or lamb), vegetables such as peppers, onions, and tomatoes, and flavored with a spicy tomato-based sauce. Lagman is typically served with fresh herbs and can be found in many Uzbek restaurants.
SOUP
Uzbekistan is known for its delicious soups. One of the most popular is Shurpa, which is a hearty meat and vegetable soup that is flavored with garlic, coriander, and other spices. It typically includes lamb or beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, and peppers, and is served with fresh herbs and bread
Mashhurda is a thick soup made from rice and mung beans. Mastava is a rice soup with beef and vegetables which is often served with sour cream. Nohat shurak (nohat-shorak) is a chickpea soup with meat that is usually served with a piece of kazy horse sausage.
SPICES
Although Uzbek dishes are not especially hot and fiery, they are certainly flavorful. Uzbekistan’s cities lay on the famous Silk Road, so spices and culinary influences from both the far east and west met here. For food lovers the aromatic scents of the spice stalls in the local bazaars is a highlight. Here you will see and smell the colourful stalls of cumin, barberry, bay leaves, cinnamon, star anise, herbs, mint, basil, raisins, saffron, turmeric, sesame seeds, cumin and more…
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
Fruits grow in abundance in Uzbekistan – grapes, melons, watermelons, apricots, pears, apples, cherries, pomegranates, lemons, persimmons, quinces and figs. Melons in particular are famed for their sweet flavour.
Vegetables are plentiful, fresh and flavourful. They include some lesser known species such as green radishes, yellow carrots, dozens of pumpkin and squash varieties. In addition there are the usual eggplants, peppers, turnips, cucumbers and luscious tomatoes.
