Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The cuisine falls into three
overlapping groups:
¨ The once-nomadic
subsistence diet found in
large areas of Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and
Turkmenistan - mainly meat
(including entrails), milk
products and bread.
¨ Diet of the Uzbeks and
other settled Turks, which
includes pilafs, kebabs,
noodles and pasta, stews,
elaborate breads and
pastries.
¨ Persian influence, ranging
from southern Uzbekistan
into Tajikistan, which is
distinguished by subtle
seasoning, extensive use
of vegetables, and fancy
sweets.
Staples &
Specialities
MENU STANDARDS
The following standards are
generally available in every
restaurant.
Shashlyk Ubiquitous ke-
babs of fresh or marinated
mutton, beef, minced meat
(farsh or lyulya kebab) or,
less commonly, chicken.
Usually served with nan
bread and vinegary onions.
The quality varies from ined-
ible to addictively delicious.
Liver kebabs are known in
Turkic as jiger .
Plov Called pilau in
Tajikistan, this consists
mainly of rice with fried and
boiled mutton, onions and
carrots, and sometimes
raisins, quince, chickpeas
or fruit slices, all cooked
up in a hemispherical
cauldron called a kazan .
Plov is always the pièce de
résistance when entertain-
ing guests. Uzbekistan is
the artery-clogged heart of
Central Asian plov .
Laghman Noodle dish that
includes fried mutton, pep-
pers, tomatoes and onions.
Korean, Uyghur and Dungan
noodles are generally the
best.
Shorpo Soupy stew, also
called shurpa or sorpo , that
consists of boiled mutton
on the bone with potatoes,
carrots and turnips.
Manpar Noodle pieces,
meat, vegetables and mild
seasoning in broth.
Beshbarmak Popular in
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
( shilpildok in Uzbek; myaso
po-kazakhsky in Russian).
Large flat noodles with
lamb and/or horsemeat are
cooked in vegetable broth
(the Kazakh version serves
the broth separately). It
means 'five fingers' since it
was traditionally eaten by
hand.
Nan ( non to Uzbeks and
Tajiks; lepyoshka in Rus-
sian) Round bread baked
in a tandyr (tandoori)
oven. Some varieties are
prepared with onions, meat
or sheep's-tail fat in the
dough; others have anise
and poppy or sesame seeds
placed on top. Nan also
serves as an impromptu
Electricity
220V/50Hz
Food
Food should not be the main
reason you come to Central
Asia. In the first years of inde-
pendence most restaurants
served only standard slop,
which somehow seemed to
taste (and smell) indelibly of
the old USSR. The situation
has improved in recent years,
particularly in the cities, with
a rush of pleasant open-air
cafes, fast-food joints and
Turkish restaurants. The best
way to appreciate regional
cuisines, and the region's ex-
traordinary hospitality, is still
a meal in a private home.
Central Asian Cuisine
Central Asian food resembles
that of the Middle East or
the Mediterranean in its use
of rice, savoury seasonings,
vegetables and legumes,
yoghurt and grilled meats.
Many dishes may seem
familiar from elsewhere -
laghman (similar to Chinese
noodles), plov (similar to
Persian rice pilafs), nan (flat
breads found all over Asia),
and samsa (the samosa of
India) - one more benefit of
Silk Road exchange.
NASVAI
Throughout Central Asia you might notice some men
chewing and copiously spitting, or talking as if their
mouth is full of saliva. Nasvai (also known as nasvar,
naswar or noz) is basically inely crushed tobacco,
sometimes cut with spices, juniper or lime. As a green-
ish sludge or as little pellets, it's tufed under the
tongue or inside the cheek, from where the active
ingredients leach into the bloodtream, revving up the
user's heart rate. Amateurs who fail to clamp it tightly
in place, thus allowing the eluent to leak into the
throat, might be consumed with nausea.
 
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