Approximately 6,500 miles separate Pittsburgh from Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. The millennia-old Central Asian city is far older and larger than Pittsburgh and sits at the midpoint of the ancient Silk Road.
Tashkent’s population has swelled as young Uzbeks leave the countryside searching for opportunities. The economic factors causing this internal change — such as poor working conditions in Uzbekistan’s important cotton industry, environmental degradation of the Aral Sea, and repressive politics — have also seen millions of Uzbeks move abroad for work.
Some 60,000 made their way to the United States, and, according to one estimate, just over 600 Uzbeks now live in Greater Pittsburgh, although the actual number could be as high as 4,000. Locals on Reddit have noticed, praising their Uzbek neighbors and observing that many seemed to work in truck driving and rideshare. Other Uzbek Pittsburghers have found work in the city’s medical industry. At least one community organization, the Uzbek Association of Pittsburgh, has emerged to meet this population’s needs. (Pittsburgh City Paper reached out to the UAP for more information, but an email went unanswered and a listed phone number appeared to be out of service.)
The community has become much more visible in recent years through the proliferation of Uzbek restaurants. Local writeups have raised these restaurants’ profiles, as have hilarious social media posts extolling the virtues of Uzbek pilaf (or plov). If the number of Uzbek eateries — City Paper counted at least six — is any indication, Uzbek Pittsburghers are in it for the long haul.
Pittsburgha xush kelibsiz
At many local Uzbek restaurants, TVs play looping promos and documentaries showing Uzbekistan’s rugged countryside, scenes of plov being tossed in gigantic woks, and sweeping views of the country’s World Heritage Sites including Bukhara and Samarkand. Customers vary, from Uzbek families to single men watching Uzbek TV on their smartphones, to Pittsburghers curious to try new food.
Takhmina Umaralieva arrived with family in Pittsburgh over a decade ago. “We were fortunate — our daughter and her husband, who had been living in Pittsburgh for several years, supported us,” she tells CP.
Umaralieva owns Kavsar Restaurant, a Mt. Washington institution that, in 2012, was the first local restaurant to put Uzbek cuisine front and center. “When we arrived in Pittsburgh, we noticed that there were no Uzbek restaurants,” she says. “We had experience in the restaurant business since 1994 in Uzbekistan and brought this expertise with us.”
Umaralieva says adapting to the local language and culture was challenging, but acknowledges the support system that has aided her and others in her community.
“Some cultural centers assist with adaptation and education, and there are groups that help with housing, employment, and language learning,” she says. “The Uzbek community also strives to support each other by hosting events to preserve traditions and help new members settle in.” Kavsar has a private events hall for such occasions.
An overwhelming proportion of the Uzbek population practices Sunni Islam. Meeting the demand for houses of worship locally are mosques such as the Pittsburgh Islamic Center in Oakland and the Attawheed Islamic Center in Carnegie. The latter, a masjid housed in a historic stone church, recently acquired several neighboring buildings to meet growing demand.
More generally, Uzbeks value hospitality and the country has a long history of literary, musical, and scientific innovation. Some helpful phrases should you want to impress your Uzbek neighbors: “salom” is “hello,” “rahmat” is “thank you,” and “Pittsburgha xush kelibsiz” means “welcome to Pittsburgh”).
Uzbek cuisine reflects the country’s Silk Road heritage — the ancient network was plied by Mediterranean, Eastern European, Arab, Persian, Indian, and Chinese tradespeople, pilgrims, warlords, and diplomats, and Uzbek cuisine derives from each of these culinary traditions.
That means hearty pelmeni (dumpling) soups as you’d find in Russia, fragrant meat dishes with Middle Eastern spices, hand-pulled noodles with elements of East Asian cuisine, samsa pasties that combine elements of Indian samosas with flaky white pastry dough, and, of course, Uzbekistan’s traditional plov rice pilaf dish. Notably, kebab dishes are not indigenous to the country.
“While kebabs are often associated with Uzbek cuisine, they are actually common in many cultures, including Georgian, Turkish, and others,” Umaralieva says. “We focus on authentic Uzbek dishes that reflect true home-cooked traditions.”
In a relatively cold, arid country, it makes sense that much of Uzbek cuisine is served piping hot. This also makes it ideal for Pittsburgh diners braving our long, gray winter.
Pizza or plov?
Pittsburgh has long absorbed new dishes from immigrant groups. The humble pierogi came here with Polish and other Eastern European migrants, and the ’Burgh has a long pasta tradition through waves of Italian émigrés. More recently, Squirrel Hill has become a mecca for pan-Asian cuisine and handmade noodles.
Could plov be the next Pittsburgh food phenomenon?
Pilaf initially spread from Central Asia, including what’s now Uzbekistan, throughout much of the ancient world. Local varieties in Spain and India respectively evolved into paella and biryani. In Uzbekistan, plov remains simple in execution — steamed rice, meat, and/or vegetables served together — but complex in flavor and tender in texture.
The televisions in Chaykhana and other spots show clips of Uzbeks preparing the dish using mountains of rice and whole sides of meat. In many, the cooks cover the rice in wide metal serving trays to trap steam.
Chaykhana, which took over the Pizza Bella Monte storefront in the West End Village, went modestly viral for an Instagram Reel favorably comparing plov to pizza.
As for other dishes, CP staff sampled multiple lagman dishes with hand-pulled noodles, hearty beef juvava soup with tomato flavors, lamb soup, several varieties of spongy bread and samsa, creamy labneh dip, and plov. These menu items appear at most of the city’s Uzbek spots, several of which opened within the past year. (CP’s lone critique of the city’s Uzbek offerings: options for vegetarians were sometimes limited.)
Beyond Chaykhana and Kavsar, the Caravan restaurant near CP’s offices serves many Uzbek mainstays. Piyola in Mt. Lebanon has received rave reviews from diners. House of Shish Kebabs in Spring Garden serves Uzbek and other Middle Eastern fare. Pizza Bari in Downtown features a full Uzbek menu for folks dining in, while still serving a wide variety of Italian and Mediterranean classics. All reflect a growing demand for the balanced flavors, zesty flavor profile, and hospitable atmosphere these restaurants offer. (CP found Chaykhana busy, and Kavsar has continued to do significant takeout sales.)
“Over time, we realized that this city is open to different cultures and traditions, which inspired us to bring a piece of Uzbekistan here,” Kavsar owner, Takhmina Umaralieva, says. “What began as a small family project has grown into a place where every guest can feel the warmth of Eastern hospitality … We are proud to be part of Pittsburgh’s diverse cultural landscape, sharing the traditions of our homeland with the local community.”
This article appears in Nov 27 – Dec 3, 2024.
