atandir, but local cooks often prepare the bread using techniques unique to the
local area. For example, the kind of bread produced in the city of Samarkand is
thicker than other variations in the region, and the top of the bread is elaborately
decorated with abstract patterns using indentations and sesame seeds. Other types
of bread are unique to cities in the Fergana Valley, western Uzbekistan, and other
locations in the country. The same regionalization occurs with the Uzbek national
dish,plov. The basic ingredients of plov are rice topped with chunks of beef or
mutton, but various vegetables or spices are sliced or chopped and included with
the rice, and these are distinctive to a specific region or even a particular city. If
one is served plov that contains chopped quince, for example, it is a certainty that
the chef is from the city of Dzhizak in central Uzbekistan, as this recipe is unique
to the residents of that city.
Ethnicity is frequently connected to foodways. Various groups have specific
foods or dishes that identify them, or perhaps possess certain cultural or religious
restrictions pertaining to food that serve as distinguishing characteristics. In some
cases it is not the nature of the food item itself that carries the greatest importance,
but rather how it is prepared or served. Such dietary codes may be quite extensive
and complex, as in the case of the food restrictions among the Jewish people com-
monly known askosher. The rules governing what is determined to be kosher (per-
mitted) and what is forbidden for consumption are primarily derived from Jewish
scripture, but there is not universal agreement even among the Jewish people on
what foods are kosher and which are forbidden, as Orthodox Jews view some
foods as non-kosher that other Jewish groups consider acceptable. Generally, not
only are certain foods considered “unclean” and therefore unfit for consumption
by many devout Jews, but the manner in which some foods are prepared is also
quite important. Some examples are that meat and dairy products should not be
prepared together in the same dish, and that fish and meat must not be eaten
together at the same meal. Some foods or ways of preparing foods are prohibited
only during specific times. Probably the best known example of such a restriction
is the rule against consumption of leavened bread during the period known as
Passover.Matzo, a type of flat unleavened cracker, is commonly eaten during the
Passover holiday. At other times of the year leavened bread is an acceptable part
of the diet of the Jewish people.
Religious dietary codes are not the only manner in which foodways can be asso-
ciated with ethnicity. In some cases the two are connected through historical
development, as certain foods became a common part of the diet of a minority
group, especially those groups that were discriminated against or socially under-
privileged. A case in point issoul food, a cuisine style typically tied to African
Americans in the United States. Soul foods are a composite of Native American,
African, and Southern food items and practices, and originated as traditional foods
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