PRIVATE Siab Bazaar Tour & Uzbek Home Cooking Class in Samarkand

After being picked up from your hotel in Samarkand, join Akram for a the famous Siab Bazaar, the city's largest local market. Meet local vendors and purchase a few ingredients to use during your cooking class. Then enjoy a scenic 30-minute drive to Akram's family home in the countryside, stopping along the way at a traditional tandir bakery. Upon arrival, you'll be welcomed by Akram and his wife surrounded by a garden with fruits, vegetables, and farm animals such as cows and rabbits. During your 2-hour hands-on cooking class, learn to prepare two authentic Uzbek dishes from scratch. Depending on the season and your interest, you may learn to make plov (Uzbek rice pilaf), samsa (savory meat pastry), shashlik (grilled meat skewers), lagman (hand-pulled noodle soup), manti (steamed meat dumplings), chuchvara (Uzbek meat dumpling soup), mastava (rice and meat soup), or no'xat soup (chickpea soup) using traditional family recipes. After cooking, sit down with the family to enjoy the homemade Uzbek meal you helped prepare, served with seasonal fruit, a traditional Uzbek dessert, and tea. At the end of your experience, you will be driven back to your hotel in Samarkand.