Item — HN Reader

Honest answer? This is not simple, because to authentically bake that kind of bread, you'd need the "tandir". No, it's not like Punjabi or Indian traditional tandoors, those are similar yet different. Uzbek one's pronounced similar to "thunder" and it's made of special clay, you really can't order one in some pottery shop here in the US.

Some restaurateurs have managed to ship fragmented oven pieces all the way from there to clay them back together here. I reckon only a few authentic tandirs exist in the West, and most of them are on the east coast.

Your best bet for getting bona fide Uzbek bread is to ask someone traveling from Uzbekistan to bring you some. Anything else is not guaranteed not to be a pale attempt at a replica. And ask natives, not tourists without a clue - there's a wide variety - Samarkand and Tashkent bread can differ in size, tenderness, texture and taste, Ferghana valley recipes may include goat milk products that may completely change everything about it.

1 comments

Darn, I was afraid I would have to make a trip just for the food. Although maybe I could turn to a food import business.

When I was in Scandinavia a few years ago, I discovered their sausages served in, I think, what is called a French roll (a tube of bread). I briefly considered setting up a food truck called "Scandi Dogs," selling these sausages in the same rolls as they serve in Europe with a side of vanilla ice cream dipped in salted licorice. And yes, that licorice ice cream combination is great once you get past the salt lick impact of the first bite.

> I would have to make a trip just for the food

Totally. There are too many dishes to count that don't exist and unlikely ever will outside of that country. Traditional sausage Qazi is a must try; Naryin is a dish with customs tied specifically to Tashkent region - they usually don't make it in Samarkand, Bukhara or in the valley. Sumalak gets cooked in huge pots simmering whole night - women take turns to stir it, while singing songs and gossiping. Osh-palov is something worth waking up at 5AM just to go try it first thing in the morning. Khonim is better than any lasagna you ever had. Samosas have so many different shapes and flavors. Kebabs, oh my - that merits its own post. There are traditional cheese balls, for some reason, some westerners love them like crazy - "best thing to have with beers", some find them unsavory. There are different kinds of soups, dozen types of salads, pastries, deserts.

Besides traditional Uzbek - Persian/Turkic dishes, there are many ethic communities with their own unique cuisine, e.g. some Armenian dishes are made only there and nowhere else. Azerbaijani chicken gets marinated in special onion sauce for days, making the meat heavenly tender. Uzbek Koreans have their own traditions and Korean dishes that you can't find in the Korean peninsula itself, which confuses Taskent-visiting Koreans.

Anyway, culinary tourism to Central Asia is an absolute hit these days. It was difficult and even unsafe to travel before, when it was under harsh dictatorship. The place is still authoritarian, but much more relaxed. Just make sure not to bring any drugs, weed included - and you'll be fine.