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Food & Drink :
Uzbek food is similar to that of the rest of
Central Asia. Plov is the staple food for everyday and celebrations,
and usually consists of chunks of mutton, shredded red and yellow
carrot and rice fried in a cast iron or aluminium pot. There are
dozens of variations of this dish. Shashlyk (skewered chunks of mutton
barbecued over charcoal - kebabs - served with sliced raw onions) and
lipioshka (rounds of unleavened bread) are served in restaurants and
are often sold on street corners and make an appetising meal. Uzbeks
pride themselves on the quality and variety of their bread. Samsa (samosas)
are also sold in the street, but the quality is variable. Manty are
large boiled dumplings stuffed with meat and shorpa is a meat and
vegetable soup. 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. In general, hotel food shows a strong
Russian influence: borcht is a beetroot soup, entrecote is well-done
steak, cutlet are grilled meat balls and 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. 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 that
serves Chinese and Korean food.
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. Beer, wine, vodka,
brandy and sparkling wine (shampanski) are all widely available in
restaurants. Kefir, a thick drinking yoghurt, is often served with
breakfast.
Nightlife :
Tashkent has a variety of theatres which show
everything from European operas to traditional Uzbek dancing and
music. The Navoi theatre, opposite the Tashkent Hotel, shows opera and
ballet. The prices are low by Western standards; shows generally start
at 1800. There is also a number of themed Western-style bars,
restaurants and discos.
Shopping :
The best place to experience Central Asia is in
the bazaars. The bazaars of Tashkent and Samarkand offer goods ranging
from herbs and spices to Central Asian carpets. In the Alaiski Bazaar
in Tashkent, it is possible to buy decorated Uzbek knives. Silk is
still produced in the country and well-priced silks can be bought at
large department stores. Many museums have small shops which sell a
variety of modern reproductions and some original items. It is
possible to buy carpets and embroidered wall hangings. Bukhara is
famous for its gold embroidery, and visitors can buy elaborately
embroidered traditional Uzbek hats. Visitors should be aware that it
is illegal to export anything more than 100 years old or items which
have a cultural significance. Shopping hours : Food shops open
0800-1700, all others open 0900-1900.
Special Events :
For further information on events in
Uzbekistan, contact the National Company Uzbektourism (see Contact
Addresses section). The following is a selection of special events
occurring in Uzbekistan in 2004 :
Mar 20-22 Navrus (Spring Festival), nationwide. May Film
Festival, Tashkent. Oct 23 Children’s Peace & Disarmament
Festival, Samarkand. Dec Pakhta-Bairam Harvest Festival,
Karakalpak.
Social Conventions :
Lipioshka (bread) should
never be laid upside down and should never be put on the ground, even
if it is in a bag. It is normal to remove shoes but not socks when
entering someone’s house or sitting down in a chai-khana. Shorts are
rarely seen in Uzbekistan and, worn by women, are likely to provoke
unwelcome attention from the local male population. Avoid
ostentatious displays of wealth (eg jewellery) in public places. |
