Uzbek bread (non)

Four main types

Uzbek bakers divide bread by method into four main types: obi non, gijda, patir and shirmoy (lochira is sometimes counted separately). Obi non — ‘water bread’ — is made from flour, leaven and salt. Gijda dough is stiffer and kneaded longer, giving a thicker loaf. Patir is enriched with butter, sheep fat, cracklings or onion, while shirmoy is raised with a special starter made from a decoction of chickpeas and anise.

Before a loaf is slapped onto the tandoor wall its underside is moistened with salted water, and the top is sprinkled with water as it bakes. The centre is pricked with a chekich, a stamp of nails that makes the pattern and stops the middle from puffing up.

Etiquette and regions

Bread is sacred in an Uzbek home: it is torn by hand, never cut with a knife, and never placed upside down, and a meal begins with breaking the bread. An old custom still survives of letting someone about to travel bite a loaf, which is then kept until they return.

Every region is proud of its bread: Samarkand non, Tashkent patir, the layered and Kashgar-style patirs of the Fergana Valley, and Khorezm’s huge loaves up to half a metre across. Bakeries and bazaars sell it fresh from early morning.