Tajik cuisine is a traditional

cuisine A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, List of cooking techniques, techniques and Dish (food), dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

, and has much in common with

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

, Russian, Chinese, and Uzbek cuisines. ''Palov'' or ''palav'' (

pilaf Pilaf (), pilav or pilau () is a rice dish, or in some regions, a wheat dish, whose recipe usually involves cooking in stock or broth, adding spices, and other ingredients such as vegetables or meat, and employing some technique for achieving ...

) (), also called ''osh'' (), is the national dish in Tajikistan, as in other countries in the region.

Green tea Green tea is a type of tea made from the leaves and buds of the '' Camellia sinensis'' that have not undergone the withering and oxidation process that creates oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China in the late 1st millenn ...

() is the national drink.

Common foods and dishes

Palav or osh, generically known as ''plov'' (

), is a

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

dish made with julienned

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...

, and pieces of

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

, all fried together in

vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed ...

or mutton fat in a special cookware called ''deg'' (a wok-shaped cauldron) over an open flame. The meat is cubed before or after being cooked, the carrots can be yellow or orange, and the rice is colored yellow or orange by the frying carrots and the oil. The dish is eaten communally from a single large plate placed at the center of the table, often in with one's hands in the traditional way. Another traditional dish that is still eaten with hands from a communal plate is '' qurutob'' (), whose name describes the preparation method: ''

qurut Kashk, kishk, ( ''Kašk'', ), () qurut, kurut, qqet, jameed, shilanch (Tuvan language, Tuvan and , , , , , Tajik language, Tajik: қурут, , Turkish language, Turkish: ''kurut''), chortan ( ''chort’an''), aaruul or khuruud (Mongolian langu ...

'' (, dried balls of salty cheese) is dissolved in water (, ''ob'') and the liquid is poured over strips of а thin flaky flatbread (''patyr'' or ''fatir'', , or more accurately фатир равғанӣ, ''fatir ravghani'', i.e., fatir made with butter or tallow for flakiness). Before serving the dish is topped with onions fried in oil until golden and topped with fresh seasonal vegetables. No meat is added. ''Qurutob'' is considered as one of the

national dishes A national dish is a culinary dish that is strongly associated with a particular country. A dish can be considered a national dish for a variety of reasons: * It is a staple food, made from a selection of locally available foodstuffs that can be ...

, predominantly consumed in the Southern regions. Tajik plov

Meals are almost always served with '' non'' (),

flatbread A flatbread is bread made usually with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are Unleavened bread, unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pita bread. A Se ...

found throughout

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. If a Tajik has food but not ''non'', he will say he is out of food. If ''non'' is dropped on the ground, people will put it up on a high ledge for beggars or birds. Legend holds that one is not supposed to put ''non'' upside down because this will bring bad luck. The same holds if anything is put on top of the ''non'', unless it is another piece of ''non''. Breakfast usually consists of tea, ''kulcha'' (Tajik milk bread) or ''non'' with butter, ''hasib'' (sausage), ''panir'' (

Feta Feta ( ; ) is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat milk. It is soft, with small or no holes, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is formed into large blocks and aged in brin ...

cheese), '' qaymoq'' or ''sarshir'', ''murabbā'' (jam), ''tukhmbiryān'' (omelettes with meat), etc. Fruits such as berries, grapes, melons, apples, peaches, and apricots are eaten too during the summer. Kompot (a non-alcoholic sweet beverage that may be served hot or cold and is made with fruits) is often drunk as well. Traditional Tajik soups include mainly meat and vegetable soups (such as shurbo and piti), and meat soups with noodles (such as laghmon and ugro). Other dishes shared regionally, either as fast food or as an appetizer, include '' manti'' (steamed meat dumplings), ''tushbera'' (

pelmeni Pelmeni (, '' pel’meni'', ; pelmen, , '' pel’men’'', ) are dumplings of Russian cuisine that consist of a filling wrapped in thin, unleavened dough. They are considered to be a national dish. Pelmeni became a staple of Russian cuisine dur ...

), '' sambusa'' (a triangular

pastry Pastry refers to a variety of Dough, doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury Baking, baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often descr ...

with either a meat and onion stuffing or a pumpkin and onion stuffing, baked in a

tandoor A tandoor ( or ) is a large vase-shaped oven, usually made of clay. Since antiquity, tandoors have been used to bake unleavened flatbreads, such as roti (as well as leavened ones, such as naan) and to roast meat. Tandoors are predominantly use ...

oven), and '' belyash'' (pl. ''belyashi'', , deep-fried cakes made of yeast dough and filled with minced meat, similar to pirozhki).

Soviet cuisine Soviet cuisine, the common cuisine of the Soviet Union, was formed by the integration of the various national cuisines of the Soviet Union, in the course of the formation of the Soviet people. It is characterized by a limited number of ingredien ...

both influenced and was in turn influenced by Tajik cuisine.

Dairy products

Dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

dishes, usually served as part of the spread of appetizers in a Tajik meal and scooped with pieces of flatbread, include ''chakka'' (a sour milk preparation), thick

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

, and kaymak (high-fat clotted cream). ''Qurut'' balls may be served as a snack or an accompaniment to cold beverages. Although not a traditional Tajik drink,

kefir Kefir ( ; alternative spellings: kephir or kefier; ; ; ) is a Fermented milk products, fermented milk drink similar to a thin yogurt or ayran that is made from kefir grains, a specific type of mesophilic SCOBY, symbiotic culture. It is prep ...

, a drinking

, is often served with

breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regi ...

Summer produce

In the summer, Tajikistan abounds in

produce In American English, produce generally refers to wikt:fresh, fresh List of culinary fruits, fruits and Vegetable, vegetables intended to be Eating, eaten by humans, although other food products such as Dairy product, dairy products or Nut (foo ...

and

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

; its

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

s and

melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...

s were famous throughout the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The

bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...

also sells

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punica, Punicoideae, that grows between tall. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, it is thought to have o ...

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are ...

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

es,

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...

figs The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...

, and

persimmon The persimmon () is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus '' Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Chinese and Japanese kaki persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki''. In 2022, China produced 77% of the world's p ...

Beverages

Tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

generally accompanies every meal and is frequently offered between meals as a gesture of hospitality to guests and visitors. It is served hot in a china pot with a lid, and is drunk with

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

from small saucer-less cups without handles ('' piola''). Because of the universal popularity of tea-drinking, the ''choykhona'', or teahouse, is the most common gathering place in Tajikistan, and is similar to the Western-style coffee house.

References

* ''Tajik Cooking'', Irfon Publ. House, Dushanbe, 1991 * Vahob Khojiev, ''Traditional and Modern Tajik Cooking'', Irfon Publ. House, Dushanbe, 1990

External links