Uzbekistan Info
Joined: 20 Apr 2007 Posts: 14
Home Country: uzbekistan
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 3:19 am Post subject: FOOD & DINING IN UZBEKISTAN / UZBEKISTAN DINING GUIDE |
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FOOD & DINING IN UZBEKISTAN
Uzbek food is similar to that of the rest of Central Asia. During the summer and autumn, there is a wide variety of fruit: grapes, pomegranates, apricots – which are also dried and sold at other times of the year – and, dwarfing them all, mountains of honeydew and watermelons. Uzbeks pride themselves on the quality and variety of their bread. In general, hotel food shows a strong Russian influence. There are a number of restaurants that serve both European and Korean food (Stalin transported many Koreans from their home in the east of the former Soviet Union, believing them to be a security threat). There is a hard-currency restaurant at the top of the Hotel Uzbekistan in Tashkent that serves Chinese and Korean food. Beer, wine, vodka, brandy and are all widely available in restaurants.
National specialties
• Plov is the staple food for both every day and celebrations, and usually consists of chunks of mutton, shredded red and yellow carrot and rice fried in a cast iron or aluminum pot. There are dozens of variations of this dish.
• Shashlyk (skewered chunks of mutton barbecued over charcoal – kebabs – served with sliced raw onions).
• Lipioshka (rounds of unleavened bread) are served in restaurants and are often sold on street corners and make an appetising meal.
• Samsa (samosas) are also sold in the street, but the quality is variable.
• Manty are large boiled dumplings stuffed with meat.
• Shorpa is a meat and vegetable soup.
• Strogan is the local equivalent of Beef Stroganoff.
• Pirmeni originated in Ukraine and are small boiled dumplings of meat and vegetables, similar to ravioli, sometimes served in a vegetable soup.
National drinks
• Tea is the staple drink of Central Asia, and chai-khanas (tea houses) can be found almost everywhere in Uzbekistan, full of old men chatting the afternoon away with a pot of tea in the shade.
• Shampanski, sparkling wine.
• Kefir, a thick drinking yogurt, is often served with breakfast.
Tipping: It is usual to tip 5 to 10 per cent in restaurants, bars and nightclubs. Restaurants in international hotels usually include service in the bill. |
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