Winter Indulgence
Text by Madina Ruzmatova
Photographer: Andrey Arakelyan
We will tell you which food is best eaten in winter, what kinds of delicacies you can find on the New Year table, and why Uzbeks do not know what Christmas goose is.
Soup to warm up
Uzbekistan is a country that does not have real snowy winters. People go to the highlands to see the snow; artificial New Year trees are set up to hold celebration, and even Santa walks without mittens and big boots.
Therefore, citizens of Uzbekistan freeze even when there is a slight low-degree temperature. People start warming up and eating cozy food at 2 degrees below zero. And, of course, delicious norin comes first to help.
Someone, who is acquainted with this combination of noodle strips with horsemeat sausage (kazi), may ask why “soup”.
Norin is a winter meal; and it is eaten with hearty soup, in which all the ingredients were boiled. It is interesting that norin is considered as a traditional dish of Tashkent. It is a kind of local street food that we have already mentioned in the earlier editions of Visit Uzbekistan.
Noxotshurpa (soup with chickpeas) will stay in travelers’ mind with its juicy taste. The most authentic variation of this soup you can try in the Fergana Valley. A more adaptive variation for unaccustomed foreign stomachs can be found in the capital. You will remember this dish due to its original amalgam of soup and peas, its nutritious and warming features. In Andijan and Namangan, the dish is eaten with chilly pepper.
Moshkhurda closes the top list of winter soups (a soup with “mosh”, a peculiar for the region grain). The grain of the leguminous plant, together with rice, offers a special taste of the Uzbek cuisine. Moshkhur-da is boiled during a long period of time. The soup is always served with sour milk.
Meat for New Year’s Eve table
Perhaps, Uzbekistan is the only country in the region, which has left behind jellied fish, “Christmas goose”, popular cabbage rolls and sandwiches with sprats as a part of New Year’s Eve celebration. You will be surprised, but native Uzbek cuisine has become the important part of all holidays. Different types of somsa, norin for sure, and many delightful bakery foods are served on the Uzbek tables. Only Russian salad and dressed herring have remained as immutable part of the New Year’s Eve table. Do not attempt to find out the etymology and the meaning of these dishes, just taste them and enjoy the pleasant combination of incongruous products.
The only thing you can observe on December 31 (Christmas is not celebrated in Uzbekistan) is a large amount of meat and meat dainties. It consists of baked beef, steaks, kazi, smoked turkey and sausages.
And for the dessert, you can enjoy unforgettable cakes, pastry, and possibly, halva, as well as, candied nuts (they are always put on the centre of the table) and balmy baklava.
