Among the splendid variety of pastry lepyoshkas (round bread) play a prominent part in Uzbek cuisine. Lepyoshkas are mentioned in one of the oldest written works, "Epos about Gylgamesh", the legendary ruler of the summers, who lived almost 5000 years ago. Lepyoshkas are baker in special clay ovens called tandir. While unearthing the Afrosiab archealogical site in Samarkand, finds included tandirs used by fire-worshippers. Tandirs are hand-made goods. They look like a cylinder with a narrow spout and two-centimeter thick walls made from mountainous loess and camel's or sheep's hair. A finished tandir has to dry under the sunshine during a week. Sometimes big clay pitchers for wine, oil or grain are also used as tandirs. Tandirs are made in the yard under the awing and near the wall, the base of a tandir needs to touch the wall. A tandir's opening is 1,5m from the floor, just opposite of the baker's workplace. One more detail- the inner wall of a finished tandir is oiled to smoothen the walls and prevent clay adhesion walls and prevent clay adhesion to the bread.

Before each baking cycle, dried brushwood, fine chopped firewood from nonconifers or cotton stems are burned in the tandir. Firewood is gradually added until the walls of the tandir become red-hot. The carbon and ashes are scraped towards the centre and the walls are splashed with salt water to facilitate the separation of the bread from the clay wall. To put lepyoshkas into the fiery tandir, bakers use a rapida, a round lepyoshka-sized cotton pillow, The raw shaped dough is put on the rapida and care full but swiftly pasted against the waits so as not to distort the perfect circle shape. Water is splashed against the wall until steam appears. Lepyoshkas are baked by means of steam, infrared radiation from wood carbons and the heat inside the hot-red walls of tandir. The appearance of a crunchy crust means that lepyoshkas are baked through and through. Each loaf is removed with the special scoop.

Lepyoshkas baked in the tandir have a full aroma, delicious taste, a high calorie content, and are said to hold healing powers. "One having eaten in the morning a slice of lepyoshka with raisins, fried peas or Circassian walnut will not be thinking about food for a long time", a quote from Ibn-Sina (Avicenna). To express their great respect to bread as a symbol of family happiness Uzbek door to door bread vendors from ancient times have been carrying breadbasket on the head.

In different areas of Uzbekistan lepyoshkas are baked in different ways. In Samarkand small, thick lepyoshkas, the shirma non are the most popular. According to ancient legends one Emir from Bukhara had through hear say come to know of the fabulous taste of Samarkand lepyoshkas. He ordered to bring to the palace the best lepyoshka-baker. A Samarkand master bought flour, firewood and even water from one of the nearby villages and prepared the desired loafs. The lepyoshkas found everyone's approval but when a connoisseur of Eastern cuisine tasted them he announced "they are different" and the bread master knew, his final hour had come. The Emir, much intrigued, asked him what he had to say to his defense. The old baker smiled and answered: "There is no Samarkand air around here." The Emir appreciated the clever answer and set the master free. There may be a kernel of truth in what the old bread master said because scientific research has shown that the harder the dough is kneeded, to enrich it with oxygen, the lighter the bread ultimately becomes.

Bukhara lepyoshkas, sprinkled with sesame or Nigella, exhale a delicate aroma. This bread amazes you with its unique taste and healing power. Sesame causes the satiety and Nigella on the contrary whets the appetite.

Wedding patir (flaky lepyoshka) from Andijan and Kashkadariya. According to ancient traditions this aromatic bread prepared with cream and butter was served during matchmaker meetings.

Tashkent lochira, plate-formed lepyoshka, is baked from short pastry (milk, butter and sugar).

Jirish non is specially prepared bread from flour mixed with bran. It is to this day used as medicine against diabetes mellitus.

Nomad tribes didn't make tandirs because of their way of living. They cooked bread on butter in kazans (cauldrons), preparing the dough on a milk base.
Especially in the mountainous area of Jizzak kazan-patir is eaten with pleasure.