Kitchen safety, nutrients and national cuisine

The deliciousness of Uzbek dishes depends on two factors: first, ingredients that are fresh, good-quality and of high variety; second, the dish’s look, fragrance and wonderful taste, which depend on the cook’s skill. Uzbek dishes use meat, flour, rice, mung beans, chickpeas, beans, vegetables and herbs that people eat a lot. Meat dishes hold a special place (lamb, beef, horse, poultry), and dairy products are widely eaten. Among drinks, mostly black and green tea is drunk; with tea, sugar, parvarda, pashmak, novvot, honey and halva are served. Dishes are cooked in half-spherical-bottomed kazans: it is easy to stir-fry ingredients, food doesn’t catch on the bottom and the kazan sits well on a hearth or a gas stove. Uzbek cuisine enriches itself through contact with other peoples: European, Caucasian, Tatar, Uyghur, Kazakh and Tajik dishes join in, and our plov, dough dishes and soups adorn other peoples’ tables. Children do not work beside a kazan and hearth without adults, because of heat and fire risk.