Before cooking, the cubes of meat are marinated - which means soaked in flavour. A typical marinade includes onion juice, a little oil, salt, pepper and cumin (a warm, earthy spice). Some cooks let the meat sit in the marinade overnight. The longer it sits, the more flavour soaks in.
The skewers are laid across the mangal, which is just a long metal tray filled with glowing coals. The cook turns each skewer often to make sure every side gets a kiss of heat. There are no flames - just hot orange coals and a little gentle smoke. Shashlik is always cooked outside.
Different parts of Uzbekistan have different favourites. Some use only meat. Some alternate with cubes of fat to keep the meat juicy. Some use chunks of vegetables - onion, tomato, pepper - on the same skewer. There are even chicken shashliks and fish shashliks, especially near rivers.
Shashlik is a meal for company. It often turns up at family parties, holidays and weekends in the park. Families bring blankets, sit around the cook, and eat the warm skewers straight off the metal with bread. The cook is the star of the gathering - everyone hopes to be the one to make the best shashlik.