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Uzbek cuisine
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Uzbek cuisine is influenced by local agriculture, as in most nations. There is a great deal of grain farming in Uzbekistan, so breads and noodles are of importance and Uzbek cuisine has been characterized as "noodle-rich". Mutton is a popular variety of meat due to the abundance of sheep in the country and it is a part of various Uzbek dishes.
Uzbekistan's signature dish is palov (plov or osh), a main course typically made with rice, pieces of meat, and grated carrots and onions.
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Encyclopedia
Uzbek cuisine is influenced by local agriculture, as in most nations. There is a great deal of grain farming in Uzbekistan, so breads and noodles are of importance and Uzbek cuisine has been characterized as "noodle-rich". Mutton is a popular variety of meat due to the abundance of sheep in the country and it is a part of various Uzbek dishes.
Uzbekistan's signature dish is palov (plov or osh), a main course typically made with rice, pieces of meat, and grated carrots and onions. Oshi nahor, or "morning plov", is served in the early morning (between 6 and 9 am) to large gatherings of guests, typically as part of an ongoing wedding celebration. Other notable 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, chuchvara, and somsa, stuffed pockets of dough served as an appetizer or a main course; dimlama (a meat and vegetable stew) and various kebabs, usually served as a main course.
Green tea is the national hot beverage enjoyed throughout the day, and teahouses (chaikhanas) are of cultural importance. Black tea is preferred in Tashkent, and both are typically taken without milk or sugar. Tea always accompanies a meal, but it is also a drink of hospitality, automatically offered – in a choice of green or black – to every guest, much in the same way that coffee is offered in Western cultures. Ayran, a chilled yogurt drink, is popular in summer, but does not replace hot tea.
The use of alcohol is less widespread than in the West, but wine is comparatively popular for a Muslim nation as Uzbekistan is largely secular. 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). Uzbek wines have received international awards and are exported to Russia and other countries.
Bukharan Jewish cuisine
The cooking of Bukharan Jews forms a distinct cuisine within Uzbekistan, largely determined by Jewish dietary laws. 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. 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:
- Osh palov – a Bukharian Jewish version of palov for weekdays, includes both beef and chicken parts;
- Bakhsh – "green palov", rice with spinach and greens (coriander, parsley, dill), exists in two varieties: bakhshi khaltagi cooked Jewish-style in a small bag immersed in a pot with boiling water or soup and bakhshi degi cooked like regular palov in a cauldron; bakhshi khaltagi is precooked and therefore can be served on Shabbat;
- Khalta savo – food cooked in a bag (usually rice and meat, possibly with the addition of dried fruits);
- Yakhni – a dish consisting of two kinds of boiled meat (beef and chicken), brought whole to the table and sliced before serving with a little broth and a garnish of boiled vegetables; a main course for Friday night dinner;
- Kov roghan – fried pieces of chicken with fried potatoes piled on top;
- Serkaniz (Sirkoniz) – garlic rice dish, another variation of palov;
- Oshi piyozi – stuffed onion;
- Boyjon – eggplant puree mixed only with salt and garlic, the traditional starter for the Friday-night meal in Bukharan Jewish homes.
- Fried fish with garlic sauce (for Friday night dinner): "Every Bukharian Sabbath ... is greeted with a dish of fried fish covered with a pounded sauce of garlic and cilantro." In the Bukharan dialect the dish is called mai birion or in full mai birion ovi sir, where mai birion is fried fish and ovi sir is garlic sauce (literally "garlic water").
The choice of deserts in Bukharan Jewish cuisine is limited. A typical festive meal ends with fruit or a compote of fresh or dried fruit, followed by nuts and halvah with green tea. A Bukharan Jewish specialty for guests on a Shabbat afternoon is chai kaymoki – green tea mixed, contrary to the standard Uzbek practice, with a generous measure of milk (in 1:1 proportions) and a tablespoon of butter in the teapot. The tea is sometimes sprinkled with chopped almonds or walnuts before serving.
Other Uzbek dishes and breads
- Palov, or osh, is the flagship of Uzbek cookery. It consists mainly of meat, onions, carrots and rice cooked in a special cauldron (deghi or qazan) 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 national dish over an open flame, sometimes serving up to 1,000 people from a single cauldron on holidays or occasions such as weddings.
- Dholeh - a risotto type dish.
- Shakarap - a salad of thinly sliced tomatoes and onions with salt and pepper
- Oshi Toki - stuffed grape leaves, similar to dolma, usually served as a cold appetizer
Breads
Traditional Uzbek bread, called generically non or patyr, is baked in the form of circular flat loaves (lepeshka in Russian) with a thin decorated depression at the center and a thicker rim all around. Nons are served to the table always with the decorated side up and they are broken by hand into irregular chunks, which are stacked on the bread plate before eating.
- Obi non - Obi nons are the staple bread of Uzbek cuisine. Obi nons are mentioned in one of the oldest written works, the Epic of Gilgamesh. Obi nons are baked in special clay ovens called tandir. "One having eaten in the morning a slice of obi non with raisins, fried peas or Circassian walnut will not be thinking about food for a long time", a quote from Ibn Sina (Avicenna).
- Samarkand nons- In different areas of Uzbekistan obi nons are baked in different ways. In Samarkand small thick obi nons, the shirma non are the most popular.
- Bukhara obi nons - sprinkled with sesame or Nigella, exhale a delicate aroma. This bread amazes you with its unique taste and healing power. Sesame causes the satiety and Nigella on the contrary whets the appetite.
- Wedding patir (flaky obi non) - from Andijon and Qashqadaryo, According to ancient traditions this aromatic bread prepared with cream and butter was served during matchmaker meetings.
- Tashkent lochira - plate-formed obi non, is baked from short pastry (milk, butter and sugar). Jirish non is specially prepared bread from flour mixed with bran; It is to this day used as medicine against diabetes mellitus, Nomad tribes didn't make tandirs because at their way of living. They cooked bread on butter in kazans (cauldrons), preparing the dough on a milk base. Especially in the mountainous area of Jizzak kazan-patir is eaten with pleasure.
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