Food to Bring Home from Uzbekistan: Edible Souvenirs
Plov spices, dried fruit and nuts, halva and parvarda, Samarkand bread and tea: a list of edible souvenirs and tips on getting them home in one piece.
Embroidered skullcaps and ceramics are lovely, but the most wanted souvenirs from Uzbekistan tend to be edible. A bag of cumin, a handful of dried apricots and a slab of halva bring back the trip better than any fridge magnet, and friends and colleagues will be glad to taste what you ate at the bazaar. Here is a list of what to bring, where to buy it and how to pack it so it all arrives intact.
Spices: a plov kit
The most practical gift is spices, especially if you plan to cook plov at home.
- Cumin (zira): dark mountain cumin smells stronger than the ordinary kind; buy whole seeds rather than ground.
- Barberries: sour dried berries for plov.
- Red pepper: ground or as whole pods.
- Coriander, sesame, nigella: for bread, samsa and salads.
- Ready-made plov and shashlik blends: sold at every bazaar; ask the vendor what goes into them.
Buy spices from stalls that sell them loose by weight so you can smell and taste them. Vendors are usually happy to pack them in sturdy bags.
Dried fruit and nuts
Uzbekistan is famous for dried fruit, and it is probably the top edible souvenir.
| What | How to choose |
|---|---|
| Dried apricots | uryuk are dried with the stone, kuraga without; natural apricots are darker and less glossy |
| Raisins | many kinds: dark, golden, large and small; taste before you buy |
| Dried melon | sweet and braided into plaits; a great gift |
| Figs, dates, prunes | dried fruit of various varieties |
| Almonds, walnuts, pistachios | buy them in the shell; they keep better |
| Apricot kernels | roasted salted kernels, a popular snack with tea |
Tip: if dried fruit looks very shiny, it may have been treated with oil or syrup. That is not necessarily bad, but natural fruit keeps differently, so ask the vendor.
Sweets
- Halva: sesame, nut or flour-based; best bought in firm packaging.
- Parvarda: little white pillows of pulled sugar, eaten with tea.
- Navat: crystallised sugar on a string or in lumps, added to tea.
- Pashmak: sweet sugar floss, fragile and in need of careful packing.
- Sugared nuts and sesame brittle: good for the road and as gifts.
The best-known centre for sweets is Kokand in the Fergana Valley, but halva and parvarda are sold at every large bazaar.
Bread
Samarkand bread is famous for staying fresh for a long time, which is why people often take it home. Buy it on the day you leave, wrap it in paper or cloth and keep it in a bag rather than an airtight plastic one. Ordinary flatbread from other cities goes stale faster, but it can survive a short journey.
Tea and teaware
Green tea is the basis of every local table. You can buy loose green tea at the bazaar, as well as herbal tea blends. A great addition is a set of bowls and a teapot of Rishtan ceramics, which turns the gift into a complete tea set.
Who to give what
- For keen cooks: cumin, barberries, a plov spice blend and a bag of local plov rice.
- For those with a sweet tooth: halva, parvarda, navat and dried melon.
- For office colleagues: a big box of mixed dried fruit and nuts that works well on a shared table.
- For parents and elders: green tea, navat and tea bowls, a classic tea-drinking set.
What not to bring
- Perishables: kaymak, suzma, fresh meat and unpackaged homemade kazy.
- Large amounts of fresh fruit: melons and grapes are heavy and travel poorly; many countries also restrict imports of fresh fruit and plants.
- Unlabelled products to countries with strict import rules: check your destination's requirements in advance.
Customs and airline rules change, so check the current restrictions on bringing in food before you travel.
How to pack
- Spices go in double zip bags so the smell does not seep into your clothes.
- Dried fruit and nuts go in sturdy bags, ideally vacuum-sealed; large bazaars often offer this.
- Fragile sweets go in boxes, in the middle of your suitcase.
- Bread is wrapped in paper or cloth and placed on top so it does not get squashed.
- Liquids such as honey should not go in hand luggage if they exceed the allowed volume.
Where to buy
The best places are the big bazaars: Siab in Samarkand, Chorsu in Tashkent and the old-town markets of Bukhara. Bazaar prices are generally lower than in souvenir shops near the monuments, and bargaining is expected. Actual prices depend on season and quality, so compare a few stalls.
It is convenient to shop on your last day: for example, browse Siab Bazaar in the morning and head back to the capital in the afternoon. Samarkand to Tashkent takes about 4 to 5 hours by car. With Yo'ldosh you can book a seat in a shared ride with a verified driver and mention in advance that you will have a couple of bags of gifts. Other directions are listed under all routes.
Cover photo: Internet Archive Book Images, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
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