With my final adventure in Samarkand upon me, I headed out to go on a paper & silk workshop tour and tried more of Uzbekistan’s ultimate street food, rice plov! Come along with me as I wrap up my exploration of Samarkand!
I started at a local paper workshop where they make paper the ancient, traditional way! The place looked like a really old house, and there were streams running through the property. There was even a water wheel!
I watched as the women skinned tree branches and put the skin in buckets of water. Then, they soak it for three days and then boil it for five hours!
Outside the next room was a stream with a huge log connected to a turning wheel. As the log turns, it makes a mechanism inside the room pound the boiled skin from the branches, which is put in a frame. It takes nine hours for the machine to pound the skin. They press it with a large rock for an entire day, and after that, you have paper! They make two types of paper: one from trees and one from cotton.
Once the paper is pressed, it’s put up to dry. It takes 5 hours to dry in summer and an entire day in the winter. After it dries, they smooth it by rubbing it on each side with a stone for 15 minutes.
I got to try it myself! It was intense work, but I could see the excess fibers coming off it. They use the paper to make lots of different products, including masks, hats, purses, dolls, and clothing! The masks cost 400,000 som/$42.06 USD each, but I bought 3 and negotiated down to 350,000 som each. They were really unique. This is the only place in Uzbekistan where you’ll find them!
Always carry cash in Uzbekistan; they don’t really use credit cards here.
Next, at the silk-weaving workshop, I learned that they can get 1,200 meters of thread from one silk cocoon. They only use natural vegetable dyes from things like roots, flowers, and pomegranate skin.
They have 80 women working there. To see them, I walked through the facility, past lots of the rugs they make, which were displayed on the walls. The craftsmanship in them was incredible. They take months to complete! They make silk carpets here, while their factory in Afghanistan makes them out of wool.
The women here work from 9 to 5, 5 days a week. They don’t switch up designs here. Instead, they use old, traditional patterns because they have special meaning. This is the largest silk factory in Central Asia.
I was blown away by the carpets in the showroom. There were so many colors and sizes. The smallest cost $80 USD, while some of the larger ones were at least $1,000 USD.
Next, we headed to Axmadjon Lux Osh to eat some plov! The chef prepared a huge one for me. The carrots go on top of the rice here, followed by beef, chickens, horse, eggs, chickpeas, cucumber, and a huge piece of fat!
The plov came with bread, tomato salad, yogurt, and a minty yogurt drink. This one was different from others I’d had because it had chicken in it.
The rice was nice and oily and I loved the yellow carrots. I couldn’t get enough of the horse sausage, and the quail egg was really tasty. The chicken was a tiny baby chicken. Inside, it was like minced chicken! This plov was so different from other rice dishes I’d had around the world. The yellow carrots added a nice sweetness. There was also a spicy red pepper!
I mixed some yogurt with the rice and meat, which blended really well with everything! I loved it! The horse was gamy but so good. Then I tried some super strong vodka!
I ended with the tomato, onion, and cucumber salad. It’s refreshing and similar to Greek salad, only without the feta cheese.
I hope you enjoyed visiting the workshops and trying Uzbekistan’s ultimate street food in Samarkand with me! If you did, please give this video a thumbs up and leave a comment. Also, please subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss any of my upcoming travel/food adventures!
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About Me:
My name is David Hoffmann. For the last decade, I have been traveling around the world in search of unique culture, food, and history! Since starting David’s Been Here in 2008, I have traveled to over 1,100 destinations in 76 countries, which I welcome you to check out on my YouTube channel, travel blog, and social media sites.
I focus a great deal on food and historical sites, as you probably have seen! I love to experience the different flavors that each destination has to offer, from casual street food to gourmet restaurant dining. I’m also passionate about learning about the local history and culture.
P.S. Thank you for watching my videos and subscribing!
