Samarkand: City of Gastronomical Wonders on Silk Road

Samarkand, located in east-central Uzbekistan, is one of the oldest cities of Central Asia and also one of the hub cities along the Silk Road. The local cuisine is heavily influenced by the surrounding regions, which brings together the cuisines and food traditions of several ethnic groups and bears their marks over the centuries, such as Caucasians, the Tajiks, Russians, Turks, and the Uzbeks themselves. Therefore it is difficult to pin down a specific starting point for cuisines in Samarkand. There are flavors from Persian cooking such as pistachios, pomegranates, tart barberries and heady cumin, Eastern European ingredients like dill and purple basil, and some of Chinese dishes including dumplings and hand-pulled noodles.

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Meals normally begin with nuts and raisins, proceed to soups, salads, and meat dishes, and end with palov, a rice-and-meat dish. Other dishes include monti, steamed dumplings of lamb meat and fat, onions, and pumpkin, and kabob, grilled ground meat. Dairy products include katyk, a liquid yogurt, and suzma, similar to cottage cheese. Meals are usually served either on the floor, or on a low table.

(Source: quanjing.com)

Shakarob is a simple salad of flaky fatir flatbread, tomatoes, onion and yogurt, also known as Tajik bread salad. Qutabs are also great choices. At their most simple, they are herb-filled flatbreads, eaten with sour cream, and are the best local fast food. Try the ones that cooked on a convex griddle on the side of the road.

(Source: quanjing.com)

Apricot and red lentil soup is one of the typical dishes in Samarkand and in season you will see them in abundance in the markets and being dried on roadsides and rooftops. In this unusual soup, you can taste the fusion of East and West as it combines cumin seeds and thyme to great effect.