Dastarkhwan

What it is

The cloth is laid before the guests sit, and it is never empty. Round flatbreads, dried fruit, nuts, sweets, fresh fruit, salads and bowls of jam are set out first. Tea comes at once. Then come the cooked dishes: soup, dumplings, pastries from the clay oven, grilled meat, and at the end the main dish, which in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan is plov, rice cooked with meat, carrots and onions. Among Kazakhs and Kyrgyz it is often boiled meat over flat noodles.

Bread and tea

Bread is treated with respect. It is broken by hand, not cut with a knife, and shared among everyone present. A loaf is never placed upside down and never put on the ground. Tea is poured by the host or the youngest person present. The bowl is filled only part way. A half-full bowl is a sign of care, because it means the host will keep refilling it and the tea will stay hot. A bowl filled to the brim can suggest the host wants the guest to leave.

How it works

Guests remove their shoes and sit on cushions around the cloth. The seat farthest from the door is the place of honour and goes to the eldest or the guest. A short blessing may be said before and after eating. Plov is commonly served on one large dish and eaten from the side nearest you, by hand or with a spoon. Plov culture in Uzbekistan and oshi palav in Tajikistan are both on the UNESCO list of intangible heritage.

How to do it

1. Take off your shoes and sit where the host shows you.
2. Accept tea and a piece of bread first.
3. Eat from the fruit, nuts and salads while the hot dishes come.
4. Take plov from the part of the shared dish nearest you.
5. Wait for the closing blessing before you rise.

Good manners

• Never step on or over the cloth.
• Do not put bread face down or leave it on the floor.
• Do not point your feet at the food or at other guests.

What is eaten

PilafRice cooked in stock with spices, meat or vegetables, with each grain kept separateSamsaBaked Central Asian pastry filled with meat or vegetablesMantiSpiced meat dumplings wrapped in thin dough, steamed, boiled or bakedLaghmanHand-pulled noodles with meat and vegetables in a savoury brothShashlikSkewered cubes of marinated meat grilled over open coalsBeshbarmakCentral Asian noodles with chopped boiled meat and onion sauce, eaten with the handsTandoor breadFlatbread baked on the walls of a clay tandoor ovenChorbaA family of hearty soups and stews found from North Africa to Central AsiaHalvaDense sweet made from seeds, grains, or vegetables, found across Asia, Africa, and Europe

Sources and further reading

• Dastarkhān on Wikipedia
• UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage: Palov culture and tradition
• UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage: Oshi Palav in Tajikistan