Central Asian Cuisine

We were forewarned about this, and it proves to be quite true: the Central Asian culinary experience is not exactly the highlight of our trip.

Sure, after having spent some months in China, which has an interesting and rich cuisine that is however at times quite repugnant for unexperienced Western tastebuds, the recognisable foodstuffs of the "-stans" are quite a relief. The cuisine is however not very refined, with rather dull and often recurring ingredients (potatoes, bread, mutton and onion) and bland tastes. The sometimes creative combinations are quite frightening: ever considered mixing potatoes, rice, buckwheat, ketchup and mayonnaise?

There are influences from the surrounding cuisines: laghman (similar to Chinese noodles), plov (resembling Persian rice pilafs), nan (flat breads found across Asia) and samsa (similar to Indian and South-Asian pastries).

In Kazachstan and Kyrgyzstan, both countries with a long nomadic tradition, the diet consists mainly of meat (often chicken and mutton), milkproducts and bread. Uzbekistan is more influenced by the Turkish cuisine: kebabs, noodles and pasta, shashlyk and breads are some of the staple foods. Across the region, there is also a heavy influence of Russian cuisine: soups (borscht, okroshka), smetana, blini, and kotlety are found in most restaurants.
Drinks of course include tea (green and black tea being most popular), beers and the inevitable vodka.

In most restaurants, especially in smaller towns, service is of the ex-Soviet standard: we've encountered plenty of waitresses happily watching television only to be disturbed by our uninvited presence.
The food itself is rarely really inviting: you often get luke-warm dishes, fatty bits of meat and uninspiring cucumber and tomato salads. Of course, we haven't exactly been dining out in the more upscale restaurants in town. We often found that homemade food (dining in guesthouses where we stayed) or food bought at streetside stalls was a much better deal, both in taste and value.