Uzbek cooking class in a small village near Samarkand

Meet Shodiyor (Sunnat)

Shodiyor was born and brought up in Samarkand. He worked as a teacher for a few years before completing his masters. One day at university he saw a group of tourists with a guide, who was giving them information about the history of his homeland. That is when he found his calling and his goal was to become a guide. Shodiyor has been working as a guide for over 7 years sharing his knowledge with travelers who are curious to learn about the history, culture, art and food of Uzbekistan.

What to expect

Please note menu might vary. If there are particular dishes you are interested in trying, please include your request in the booking form.

Market visit (1 - 20 guests) Shodiyor will pick you up from your central hotel in Samarkand and drive you the picturesque village of Eshim Oksok, 15 kilometers away from Samarkand. It is a wonderful way to witness the way of life of the Uzbek people and experience their hospitality. The experience takes place in Shodiyor's humble home, where you will get to meet his family and cook and eat together with them. Begin your experience with a short tour of the local market, its a neighborhood market where locals shop for their fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables. Visit Shodiyor's favorite vendor and buy a few ingredients that you will need for your cooking class. Back home, in your 1.5 hour Uzbek cooking class learn to make plov and a salad or a traditional bread. Either learn to bake and observe the process of making non (Uzbek bread) in a tandir (traditional outdoor oven). Or then learn to cook plov, the famous one pot rice and lamb dish. Traditionally plov in Uzbekistan is cooked by men and there are more than thousand recipes with various ingredients depending on the region you come from. There also a number of whole books dedicated to just this dish! Shodiyor and his family will teach you the one that is used by their family for generations. After you cook, sit down the traditional way on the floor and eat with your hands, the meal you helped prepare.

In case you don't wish to cook plov or non, here are a few other dishes you can choose from: laghman (a dish of meat, vegetables and pulled noodles) or kazan kebab (fried meat and potatoes) or dolma (stuffed grape leaves) or gilmindi (Uzbek pancakes) or manti (dumplings) - please let Shodiyor know in advance if you'd like to cook any of these dishes instead of plov.

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