Tandoor: Taste of a lifetime

Text by Madina Rajabova

Photos by Andrey Arakelyan

Uzbekistan is a land of great diversity. No matter where you go, you find special customs, traditions, dialects and natural wonders. And this is especially true of the food: Tashkent's naryn (horse-meat noodles), Khorezm's tukhum barak (special dumplings with eggs), the samsa of Jizzakh, Syrdarya's fish and Samarkand's bread. There are oodles of Uzbek dishes worth sinking your teeth into. Most people will tell you that these dishes are particularly delicious in their local regions, meaning you have to travel to taste them all. And for that reason, carnivores head to Kashkadarya to savour its famed tandoor meat. A calling card of the desert-oasis city, no wedding or celebration would be complete without tandoor meat.

The dish is incredibly simple, made only from meat and spices. A tandoor (or tandyr) is a traditional clay oven in which the meat is roasted. Mutton or lamb is most typical in Kashkadarya, although you will occasionally also encounter beef. The meat is usually spiced with juniper, paprika, cumin, salt and black and red pepper.

Tandoor meat is popular here because Kashkadarya is traditionally a livestock-breeding region. The ingredients are entirely organic, with no preservatives or chemicals added. Kashkadarya’s tandoor is famous throughout Uzbekistan and is often ordered for special occasions in other regions.

There are different views on the origin of this dish. A legend says that once, there was a severe thunderstorm and a forest fire broke out, killing and cooking many creatures. Afterwards, the shepherds of that land ate the meat and came to enjoy the taste. They learned to cook a similar dish by roasting meat in a clay oven.

If you go to Kashkadarya, make sure to sample the tandoor meat. It’s easy to find in every restaurant, teahouse and home, and the taste will stay with you for a lifetime.