Meals in uzbekistan

32 Things to Know Before Visiting Uzbekistan

19. Tea

Much like other Arabic and Asian countries such as Turkey and Egypt, tea is more than just another beverage in Uzbekistan. Tea represents friendship and hospitality. You’ll likely be offered tea at your guesthouse upon your arrival. And perhaps you’ll be offered it every time you enter or leave your guesthouse.
You’ll rarely be able to order just a cup of tea. It will always come in a teapot along with a stack of small bowls. Uzbeks drink tea out of these bowls rather than teacups. You’ll generally be served one bowl more than the number of people expected to share the pot of tea. The extra bowl is used for mixing the tea when you first receive it.

There are a few steps to properly drink a pot of tea in Uzbekistan. First, you won’t want to drink the tea right away. You should give it a few minutes to let it finish steeping. Second, pour the tea into one of the bowls and then pour it back into the top of the teapot. Repeat this mixing step several times for good measure. Now discard that bowl, no one will actually be drinking out of it.

Finally, distribute the remaining tea bowls and pour everyone else’s tea. It’s customary not to pour your own tea in most countries unless you’re the host. Look around expectantly at everyone enjoying their tea and hope that someone takes the hint and pours you a bowl. If no one seems to take the hint, go ahead and pour your own. It’s okay as you’re the host in this situation.
20. Toasted Apricot Seeds
Dried apricots are incredibly popular in Uzbekistan. And of course, all the apricots have to have the pits removed. Why not toast all those apricot pits and turn them into a delicious treat?
Toasted apricot seeds are perfect to snack on while drinking a beer. And if you think beer would be uncommon in Uzbekistan due to its predominantly Muslim population, you would be wrong. Alcohol is widely available in Uzbekistan and there are actually a number of locally produced wines and beers that you should try while you’re in the country, to go with your toasted apricot seeds of course.
21. Halva
The amount and diversity of desserts in Uzbekistan are pretty mind-blowing. Sugared almonds and peanuts, baklava, various types of fried dough covered in sugar or honey, chunks of rock sugar, dried apricots, and figs, we could write an entire post dedicated to Uzbek sweets.
Halva, however, is one that we encountered frequently and loved. It’s a dense fudge-like confection that is popular all across the Middle East and Central Asia. It’s typically made by mixing sesame oil or sunflower seed oil with sugar syrup. It can be flavored with cocoa powder, vanilla, chocolate, and chopped nuts, giving each halva vendor’s recipe a unique flavor and texture.
You’ll find stacks of halva for sale at every major market in Uzbekistan, but our favorite places to shop for it were Chorsu Market in Tashkent and the Siab Bazaar in Samarkand. At either, you’ll find endless varieties of Halva to sample and choose from. Just make sure you triple-check the prices with a few different vendors to make sure you’re not getting overcharged.
Food in Uzbekistan is a way of life. The way Uzbek people treat cooking is the subject of careful study. Even the most scrupulous researches will not help to identify trends, rules and even more laws. These are recipes on emotions with a lot of nuances and requirements for the dish.

The Uzbeks are very hospitable and cheerful people. They are happy to serve the guests with dishes prepared by their distant ancestors. The food of Uzbek cuisine is open to the influences of other cultures, but each borrowed dish is prepared in its own Uzbek way.

Currently, modern gas and electric ovens, kitchen utensils and appliances are broadly used for cooking Uzbek food. However, traditional methods of cooking are still popular. An obligatory element of kitchen ware is a cauldron (usually of several types and sizes). Tandyr (clay oven) is almost an obligatory element, especially of rural places.
The traditional type of dishes, which serves Uzbek food plov and many other dishes is lyagan (large flat plate or dish). While eating Uzbek meal forks are used on rare occasions. If pilaf is not eaten by hand, then it is accepted to eat with a spoon. Other utensils used in the Uzbek cuisine are a kosa (deep bowl) and a piala (a cup for tea).
The national Uzbek food is characterized by exuberant use of meat. The main source of proteins and fats in the northern livestock areas is lamb and sheep's fat. Beef, horse meat, camel meat, goats and poultry are used in many dishes. Also, the fish and fat poultry are well respected among the Uzbeks. Eggs are used mainly for festive baking.
Uzbek cuisine is famous not only for a unique set of ingredients, but also for processing of products that have been perfected for thousands of years. Traditional Uzbek food combines several dozen components and requires a lot of experience and attention during cooking. Their recipes are passed down from generation to generation.
Uzbek food list
An important place in the Uzbek meals is occupied by hot soups (shurpa) on strong broth. As a rule, they are dense, spicy, with lots of vegetables and greens.
In the Uzbek tradition, it is customary to cook soups on low heat and salt at the very end. Unique soups of Uzbek food are mastava (from meat, rice and vegetables, which is served with sour milk, pepper and spices); mashkhurda (bean soup with rice, potatoes, onions, herbs and sour milk); mash-atala (thick soup of roasted fat, onion, carrots, beans and flour); moshubirinch (mutton, tomatoes, beans and rice); cholop (cold soup from sour milk, radishes, cucumbers and greens). Uzbek noodles are almost always cooked with meat.
Meat dishes seasoned with Uzbek spices are the most common among the second dishes of Uzbek meals. They are: pilaf, cutlets, shashlik, manti, kebab, lagman, samsa and all sorts of pies with meat, rice, pumpkin and other fillings. Meat is served with vegetable salads or meat is stewed with vegetables. Meat for cooking many dishes is not separated from the bones. Meat is usually fried on the heated oil or a mixture of vegetable and animal oils. Many meat and vegetable dishes are prepared at the steam.
Also, Uzbek national meals are characterized by the use of cereals and legumes (such as rice, jugara, wheat, peas). Vegetables are also popular. Primarily, these are pumpkin, turnips and carrots.
Milk fermented products are the pride and essential food of Uzbek cuisine. Katyk (yoghurt) and suzma (strained curdled milk, similar to cottage cheese) are made from sour sheep milk. These Uzbekistan special foods with high nutritional value and unusual taste can be eaten as separate dishes, and salads and soups can be filled with them. Ayran is a cold, invigorating drink made from suzma or sour milk, diluted in cold water.
The Uzbeks are very respectful of bread. The main Uzbek bread is the flat cake “obi-non”. For the holidays patyr (flat cake with the addition of mutton fat) is baked. Bukhara bread is sprinkled with sesame seeds. In spring, the dough for obi-non is cooked on the infusion of fresh shoots of mint, dandelion, spinach, quinoa and many other herbs. On the lookouts cakes with butter and sour cream are prepared. Different additives are used in different regions of Uzbekistan, but the technology of cooking obi-non has not changed for centuries.
Uzbek sweets are a common thing in Uzbekistan. Here are almost 50 kinds of khalva. The Uzbeks prepare delicacies from nuts, fruits and cirups. The abundance of fruits and berries is used in Uzbek meals for the preparation of sweet compotes, medicinal infusions, refreshing sorbets. Melons and watermelons are independent desserts. 
Eating traditional Uzbek food would be incomplete without Uzbek tea. For centuries in the teahouses serious questions and sincere conversations were conducted with a cup of aromatic tea. Gathering in the tea house is the traditional privilege of men.
Make a trip to Uzbekistan. Here you will not only be treated with delicacies, but also shown how all this is cooked. Believe, cooking national Uzbek food is no less exciting than eating it. All the secrets and subtleties of local cooking will be uncovered for you. Uzbek people will share recipes, so that you at home always have at hand a piece of the eastern fairy tale!