Monday, July 9, 2012

Kazakh National Cuisine

          Kazakhstan It is located in the center of the Eurasian Landmass in what is known as Central Asia. Kazakhstan is bordered on the east by China on the south by Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, on the west by the Caspian Sea, and on the north by Russia. The population of Kazakhstan was estimated at 16, 733,227 and The Capital of Kazakhstan is Astana . Also Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest country in the world. They official language is Turkic. Kazakhstan is a beautiful country, because they high mountains that are near China and they the large  pastures that feed their animals.In addition, Kazakhstan is a rich country in oil, gas, and gold, iron ore, coal, copper, chrome and zinc,
but they are recognized by the only way to raise their animals and their great cuisine.


          Kazakh national cuisine reflects the nature of its people, its history, customs and traditions. Traditional Kazakh cuisine revolves around mutton and horse meat, as well as various milk products. For hundreds of years, Kazakhs were herders who raised fat-tailed sheep, Bactrian camels, and horses, relying on these animals for transportation, clothing, and food. 

Sheep



Bactrian camels


Horses


          The cooking techniques and major ingredients have been strongly influenced by the nation's nomadic way of life. For example, most cooking techniques are aimed at long-term preservation of food. There is large practice of salting and drying meat so that it will last, and there is a preference for sour milk, as it is easier to save in a nomadic lifestyle. Kazakhstan have a lot of varieties of  principal dishes and all of them have one ingredient in common that is meat. Horse and mutton are the most popular forms of meat and are most often served in large uncut pieces, which have been boiled. Kazakhs cared especially for horses which they intended to slaughter-keeping them separate from other animals and feeding them so much that they often became so fat they had difficulty moving.




Common and traditional dishes

          Besbarmak, a dish consisting of boiled horse or mutton meat, is the most popular Kazakh dish. It is also called “five fingers” because of the way it is eaten. The chunks of boiled meat are cut and served by the host in order of the guests’ importance. Besbarmak is usually eaten with a boiled pasta sheet and a meat broth called shorpa, and is traditionally served in Kazakh bowls called kese.

Besbarmak

          Other popular meat dishes are kazy (which is a horsemeat sausage that only the wealthy could afford), shuzhuk (horse meat sausages), kuyrdak (also spelled kuirdak, a dish made from roasted horse, sheep, or cow offal, such as heart, liver, kidneys, and other organs, diced and served with onions and peppers), and various horse delicacies, such as zhal (smoked lard from horse's neck) and zhaya (salted and smoked meat from horse's hip and hind leg). 

kazy

          Another popular dish is pilaf, which is made from meat fried with carrots and onion or garlic, also known as crackler, is melted fat in a large bowl with sugar added, and is eaten by dipping bread in it and is often eaten with tea. Kylmai is a sausage made during winter and fall slaughtering and is made by stuffing intestines with pieces of ground meat, fat, blood, garlic, salt, and pepper.

Pilaf


Beverages

          Kazakh wine: The traditional drinks are fermented mare's milk (kumys), camel's milk (shubat), cow’s milk (airan), as well as sheep milk and its products, kaymak (sour cream), katyk or ayran (buttermilk), kurt, which is made from dried cheese and whey rolled into balls, and irimshik (dried sour milk product similar to kurt, but not rolled into balls). These drinks were traditionally consumed with the main course. However, meals often end with Kumys as well and then tea. In the summer, chal is one of the staple foods of the Adai Kazakhs. Black tea was introduced from China since the foundation of Silk Way and was traditionally consumed with sweets after the main course. Nowadays tea (with milk) has virtually replaced other traditional drinks.


Kumys





Chal 





Desserts

          The traditional sweets are baursaks, sheck-sheck (also known by tatar's name chack-chack), and zhent.

Baursaks

Sheck-Sheck ( Tatar's )


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1-References
Kazakh cuisine
Wikipedia
This page was last modified on 20 June 2012 at 21:50.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakh_cuisine


2-References
Kazakhstan - Kazakh national cuisine
advantour
Copyright © 2001-2012 Advantour. All rights reserved.
http://www.advantour.com/kazakhstan/cuisine.htm

3-References
Kazakhstan 
nationsencyclopedia

4-References of the pictures: just the URL






















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