Uzbek Food Culture

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

UZBEK CUISINE is a perfect example of amalgamation of various cultures depicting their spiritual and predominant heritage.

One can rightly denote it as “a melting pot” of several cultural unifying it into one consolidated connotation of devouring delights.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the module tutor CHEF JIGNESH MISTRY who provided me with this glorious opportunity to work on the project stating- “THEORITICAL REVIEW OF THE EVOLUTION OF FOOD PRODUCTION PRACTICES AND THEORIES WITH REFRENCE TO UZBEK CUISINE, AND THE REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCTION OF THE SAME IN A COMMERCIAL SCENARIO” and for his invaluable inputs and extended support

The library staff for their willingness to deliver information, in the form of

Uzbek plov a close relative of Italian risotto was allegedly created during the rule of Alexander the great when he ordered a soldier to cook a tasty dish from local available ingredients and which army men could easily carry with them. Plov is the main dish for any and all occasions like family gathering, birthday, wedding or entertaining a guest etc. Post revolution the dish was made only by male cooks but now both men and women make plov and every girl and boy is taught art of plov making at an early age. A plov traditionally consists of meat such as lamb, beef or poultry and a blend of fried carrots, onions, rice and other ingredients including mung beans, chickpeas, pumpkin, quince, noodles, nuts or raisins. Traditionally, Uzbek plov is prepared in a deep cast-iron pot (kazan), which is uniformly warmed and a dish is not burnt. It is flavored with salt, pepper, cumin and barberries. Tomato, pepper and radish salads, cucumbers and pickles etc are accompaniments of the PLOV. Chinese influence on the cuisine can be seen in famous dishes like steamed or fried dumplings and buns, fried noodles and mung beans. MANTY or fried dumplings are part of Uzbek cuisine from 17th century. Dumplings are stuffed with lamb, beef or vegetables. LAGMAN a national appetizing dish is made from egg noodles, lamb, peppers etc. and depending on the thickness is served as a stew or a soup. Indian cuisine has also impacted the Uzbek cuisine in use of TANDYR (Indian tandoor) which is a clay oven used to make traditional Uzbek breads like NON flatbreads significant of Indian NAN, the stuffed pastry SAMSAS ( Indian samosas or Russian pirozhki) are filled with lamb, lamb fat, onions, chickpeas, potatoes, pumpkin etc. Uzbek cuisine make very less use of dairy products but still there are many significant dishes which people prefer in daily routine. Koumiss (soured milk), Ayran a salty blend of yoghurt and water are some popular drinks.