The dastarkhan is the ceremonial cloth spread on the floor around which diners gather. In the Persian and Central Asian tradition of the 9th-10th centuries, the meal is not sequenced as starter-main-dessert but laid out simultaneously: nân (breads), palaw (rice), kabâb or stews, accompaniments (herbs, dairy, fresh and dried fruits), sweets, and sharbat. The host or emir invites guests to help themselves freely. Rich dishes (saffron rice, meat) occupy the center, while breads and condiments line the edges.

Saffron (za'farân) is the crown spice of Samanid court cuisine. Cultivated in Khorasan and Transoxiana, it colors and perfumes rice, sharbats, and confections. Its presence signals a prestige dish — its cost made it as much a social marker as a flavoring. Arab chroniclers mention saffron among the commercial treasures of Bukhara.