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Uzbek cuisine shares the culinary traditions of peoples across Central Asia. [1] Grain farming is widespread in Uzbekistan, making breads and noodles an important part of the cuisine, which has been described as "noodle-rich". [2]
Bread (nan or non) is baked in a tandur, which is frequently a pot rather than the deep pit or oven of India and Afghanistan. Many varieties of rice are eaten. [3] Potatoes were introduced by the Soviets, and some elder Uzbeks still refuse to eat them. [4]
The most popular meat is mutton. Beef is common, and goat is eaten only rarely. Horse meat is used as well; there are sausages made of horse meat, as is the case with many other Turkic peoples. [3] Karakul sheep provide meat [5] but also fat, particularly the fat from the tail end, called qurdiuq. [3]
Uzbekistan's signature dish is palov (plov or osh or palov, "pilaf"), a main course consisting of rice, chunks of meat, grated carrots and onions. It is cooked in a kazan (or deghi) over an open fire. Chickpeas, raisins, barberries, or fruit may be added for variation.
Although often prepared at home for family and guests by the head of household or the housewife, palov is made on special occasions by the oshpaz, or the osh master chef, who cooks the dish over an open flame, sometimes serving up to 1,000 people from a single cauldron on holidays or occasions such as weddings. Nahor oshi, or "morning plov", is served in the early morning (between 6 and 9 am) to large gatherings of guests, typically as part of a wedding celebration.
Other national dishes include shurpa (shurva or shorva), a soup made of large pieces of fatty meat (usually mutton) and fresh vegetables; norin and lagman, noodle-based dishes that may be served as a soup or a main course; manti (also called qasqoni), chuchvara, and somsa, stuffed pockets of dough served as an appetizer or a main course (ranging from "wonderfully flaky and rich" to "heavy, stodgy" [3] ); dimlama (a meat and vegetable stew) and various kebabs, usually served as a main course.
Green tea is the national hot beverage taken throughout the day; teahouses (chaikhanas) are of cultural importance. Black tea is preferred in Tashkent. Both are taken without milk or sugar. Tea always accompanies a meal, but it is also a drink of hospitality, automatically offered green or black to every guest. Ayran, a chilled yogurt drink, is popular in the summer.
The use of alcohol is less widespread than in the West. Uzbekistan has 14 wineries, the oldest and most famous being the Khovrenko Winery in Samarkand (est. 1927). The Samarkand Winery produces a range of dessert wines from local grape varieties: Gulyakandoz, Shirin, Aleatiko, and Kabernet likernoe (literally Cabernet dessert wine in Russian). [6] [7] Uzbek wines have received international awards and are exported to Russia and other countries in Central Asia.
A festive meal ends with fruit or a compote of fresh or dried fruit, followed by nuts and halvah with green tea.
Palov was not available to the general population until the 1930s, the Soviet era. Traditionally only men cooked the dish, but when the Soviets took over control of the country, they liberated women, who were then also allowed to prepare it. Since then, however, according to food scholar Nancy Rosenberger (writing in 2012), "the pendulum was swinging back, if it had ever swung very far".
The basis is meat, usually mutton, with vegetables (carrots and onions), fried in qurdiuq (fat from the fat-tailed sheep). The mixture of onion and thinly cut carrot is called zirvak, and it is compared to European soffrito. Often garbanzos and raisins are added, and instead of mutton all kinds of other basic ingredients can be used, including stuffed grape leaves or poultry.
The meat is either boiled or fried with the zirvak. The rice is cooked by being soaked and then placed on top of the other ingredients, so it steams--in contrast to other popular ways of making pilaf, where rice is fried, and the other ingredients added, and then the entire dish being cooked in water. [3]
Traditional Uzbek bread, called generically noni [8] or patyr, is baked in the form of circular flat loaves ( lepyoshka in Russian) with a thin decorated depression at the center and a thicker rim all around. Nons are brought to the table with the decorated side up, then torn into irregular chunks which are stacked on the bread plate. Every region has different varieties of non, most prominent are:
The cooking of Bukharan Jews forms a distinct cuisine within Uzbekistan, subject to the restrictions of Jewish dietary laws. [9] The most typical Bukharan Jewish dish is oshi sabo (also osh savo or osovoh), a "meal in a pot" slowly cooked overnight and eaten hot for Shabbat lunch. Oshi sabo is made with meat, rice, vegetables, and fruit added for a unique sweet and sour taste. [10] By virtue of its culinary function (a hot Shabbat meal in Jewish homes) and ingredients (rice, meat, vegetables cooked together overnight), oshi sabo is a Bukharan version of cholent or hamin.
In addition to oshi sabo, authentic Bukharian Jewish dishes include: [11]
Beverages in Uzbek cuisine reflect the nation's Central Asian nomadic roots and its historical role along the Silk Road, offering a diverse array of traditional drinks. Tea holds a central place, with kok choy (green tea) being the most popular, typically served unsweetened in small ceramic piyola bowls to pair with dishes such as plov or shashlik. Black tea, or qora choy, is also widely consumed, sometimes enhanced with herbs like mint or thyme. Dairy-based options include ayran , a cold, salted yogurt drink that complements the cuisine's rich, spiced flavors, and common fermented drinks like qatiq and kumis (fermented mare’s milk), tied to pastoral traditions. Sharbat , a sweet, non-alcoholic fruit drink made by boiling dried fruits such as apricots, raisins, or apples, highlights Uzbekistan’s abundant fruit harvests. Another distinctive offering is chalop , a chilled mixture of yogurt, dill, cilantro, and vegetables, functioning as both a beverage and a light dish. For festive occasions, shirchoy , a salty milk tea prepared with butter, underscores the region’s steppe heritage.
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