A Stylish Survivor - Dushanbe's Rohat Teahouse
plus a recipe for sesame brittle
Open-fronted, tall as a three-storey apartment building and supported by elegant white columns, Rohat is a famous symbol of Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. But it is also a survivor and its continued existence is regularly threatened as the city’s building boom advances.
Opened in 1958, the chaikhana (teahouse) looks, and feels, both cinematic and sentimental with its neon signage, painted ceilings and murals. The open view over the city’s main thoroughfare, Rudaki Avenue, offers excellent people watching and its indoors-outdoors design means diners feel part of the city. It is an institution and a much loved place. Families, friends and tourists drop in for a pot of tea, a lunch of rice and mutton mastava soup or some flaky samsa.
But its future is not guaranteed. Countless other Soviet-era structures have been flattened in this small city which was known as Stalinabad from 1929 to 1961 when Russian-speaking engineers, architects and industrialists worked here, at the far edge of the Soviet Union.
Gone is the Jami cinema, its name a nod to the Sufi writer Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami, and gone, too, is the old Mayakovsky Theatre, named after the poet, once home to Tajikistan's first cinema and its first radio broadcasting centre. Rare protests erupted when it was torn down in 2016.
Today, dusty construction sites edge most of Dushanbe's major roads, yet many of the newest and glitziest apartment blocks and office buildings, such as Dushanbe Plaza, a 22-storey monolithic development, are empty or only partly inhabited.
For obvious reasons there is a desire in Tajikistan to move away from its Soviet past but these extravagant facades are often built as a way of cloaking corruption and housing crises. Usually, they are not what local residents need, or can afford, and the tearing down of theatres and cinemas - the sort of places people associate with happy times and childhood outings - could be argued is short-sighted, wasteful and will not erase Tajikistan’s Soviet past.
Yet despite all this it is hard to be too down on Rudaki Avenue itself, named after the 10th-century master of classical Persian literature Rudaki, as it remains one of the most handsome streets in Central Asia, with its trees, statues and parks.
It acts as a physical reminder, too, of Tajikistan's links to Persia, and such connections have not been forgotten - many Tajiks can quote Omar Khayyam and the poetry of Ferdowsi. Along with the Koran, books of Rudaki's poems remain the most purchased and read.
One of the most controversial and talked-about changes to take place in the city was the closure of Shahmansur market, or Green Bazaar, close to Rudaki Avenue. I have only vague memories of visiting in 2009 but wandering through the sparsely populated lanes in the replacement bazaar, Mehrgon, I wondered what had been gained by knocking it down.
Mehrgon felt more bland mall than bustling Central Asian market. It lacked energy and spirit and the prices seemed likely too steep for most locals which is probably why it was quiet.
It was only a group of honey-sellers, pitched outside with their eye-catching displays of amber-hued jars and wooden honeycomb frames, that brought a dash of real life and energy.
They were, they explained, in town for three days to introduce their exceptionally fresh-tasting honey, from the mountains of the Rasht Valley, to the residents of Dushanbe.
I hope Rohat doesn’t go the way of the old Green Bazaar. It has always been a joy to sit there, to sip tea and to quietly plan the journey ahead or to relax after a trip through the mountains. Maybe, along with local pressure to keep it open, the slightly increased volume of foreign visitors - who appreciate its charms, just look at the mural below - will also help to preserve it for generations to come.
Recipe for Sesame Brittle
Brittle is popular throughout Central Asia and often comes on the side with a pot of tea ordered at a chaikhana. At home, it’s a nice thing to have in the cupboard for when you have a craving for something sweet. There is a recipe for brittle in both Samarkand (with ginger), my first book, and my forthcoming one Cold Kitchen (with glacé cherries), this one gives an option of using dried pears or sultanas.
Makes 15 squares
180g golden caster sugar
4 tablespoons honey
220g white sesame seeds
Cashews and blanched hazelnuts (nuts roughly chopped)
30g butter
50g sultanas and or dried pears (chopped)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Before you start, make sure you have all your ingredients to hand, and your nuts and dried fruit chopped.
Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
Put the sugar and honey into a small pan over a medium-low heat and add 80ml of water. Do not stir, but keep an eye on it until the sugar has melted.
Turn the heat up to high and add the seeds and nuts – it is vital to keep stirring constantly now, while the sugar caramelises to a lovely dark golden colour. This can take up to 20 minutes, and it is important to let the mixture thicken and reduce down, otherwise the brittle won’t set.
Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, then the dried fruit. Finally, stir in the bicarbonate of soda and mix thoroughly.
Carefully pour the mixture onto the lined baking tray. You want the mixture to be about 2cm deep: if necessary, make a border fence with the parchment by folding it up at the edges to stop it spreading. Leave to cool completely.
When entirely cool, turn out the brittle onto a chopping board and cut into neat squares. Serve, then keep whatever is left in an airtight container – it should be good for a couple of months.
Links for further reading:
Red Sands: Reportage and Recipes Through Central Asia, from Hinterland to Heartland by Caroline Eden
Samarkand: Recipes and Stories From Central Asia and the Caucasus by Caroline Eden and Eleanor Ford
Redeveloping Dushanbe Construction is booming in Tajikistan’s capital — but at what cost? By Judith Robert for The Beet. Edited by Eilish Hart.
Land Beyond the River, The Untold Story of Central Asia by Monica Whitlock
The old Dushanbe is almost gone. Would you believe we used to take Scottish dancing lessons in the Mayakovsky Theatre! Green Bazaar -‘Zilyoni Bazar’ was the absolute centre in so many ways of beautiful Dushanbe and one of the places where I tried so very hard to improve my language skills. The hand painted ceilings at Rohat tea house are public works of art, and when they destroy the building along with its ‘potolok’ it will be yet another architectural crime against this much loved city. Shame!