The Uzbek culture and traditions circuit- Samarkand - Day 8 (evening) - The 14th of September 2013

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We were once more dinner guests at some local lady's. We were welcomed as we had possibly not been before and dinner (we had "manti") was definitely the best ever. "Manti" are dumplings popular in Turkic cuisines, as well as in Caucasian, Central Asian and Chinese Islamic cuisines. They consist of a rather spiced meat mixture in a dough wrapper, either boiled or steamed, though the ones we were presented at table seemed to have been steamed.

According to some researchers they were carried across Central Asia to Anatolia by migrating Mongol peoples, once they could be quickly boiled over a camp fire. Korean "mandu" (closely related to "manti") is also said to have arrived in Korea through the Mongols in the 14th century, however there is a possibility "manti" may have originated in the Middle East and spread eastward to Korea and China through the Silk Road.

Irrespective of their "historical" background I really liked them. The special desert was also very good. If some of us had been sick because of food changes, I on the other hand was really adapting and particularly enjoying it.

By the time we got back to the Hotel another wedding party was going on. The rituals involving the behavioural attitudes of both bride and bridegroom didn't seem to differ from the one we had watched before, though there was a remarkable difference as far as the dancing was concerned, as young men seemed to be closer to their female counterparts and in some instances danced together, better said  ... in the same circle.

It had been a rather long day but also one in which we barely had time to stop so as to have all that was programmed for the day "squeezed in".