National Gastronomy

Beshbarmak

Beshbarmak is the hallmark of a feast in Kazakhstan. It is a very ancient dish consisting of chunks of boiled lamb, broth and pieces of dough. In translation, "beshbarmak" means "five fingers", as they eat it with their hands. The traditions of serving beshbarmak are quite interesting: the lamb's head, brought out on a separate dish, is given to the most honored guest to carve. The ears go to unmarried men, the palate to unmarried girls. Other parts are for the remaining guests.

Kuyrdak

In the Kazakh variation of kuyrdak, the liver (kidneys, chopped lungs, heart, and spleen) is usually used. In modern cuisine, in order to give the dish more volume, vegetables are often also added such as potatoes, carrots, and pumpkins. Sometimes they add poultry and kazy meat. First, the offal is fried and after it is half-cooked, potatoes are added and stewed, most often cut into cubes. A certain amount of very thick broth may remain in the finished dish.

Bauyrsak

It is usually prepared from unleavened or yeast dough in the form of small donuts (diamond-shaped or round), made by deep-frying in a cauldron. There are also recipes for curd baursaks. It is usually served as a complement, for example, to shurpa or tea (Tartars serve it only with tea, Uyghurs serve it with atkanchai).

Kazy

There is no cuisine where sausage is not made. Among the Kazakhs, it is kazy - a sausage made of horse meat, which is a true delicacy. It is prepared simply: they stuff the horse gut with fat horse meat from the ribs, after smearing them with spices and flavorings. Sometimes the whole rib is placed in the gut for the form. Kazy can be boiled, smoked, dried. It is an indispensable dish on Kazakh holidays and weddings. It is noteworthy that before slaughter, the horse is fattened for a long time, and slaughtered, according to tradition, for the winter.

Kumis

Kumis is a fermented milk drink made from mare's milk, produced as a result of lactic and alcoholic fermentation using Bulgarian and acidophilic lactic sticks and yeast. The drink is foamy, whitish in color, and has a sour-sweet taste.

Depending on the leaven, duration and conditions, kumis turns out to be different. Sometimes kumis is quite strong, with an increased content of alcohol, which can be intoxicating, leading a person to an excitedly drunken state. Sometimes kumis, on the contrary, weakly fermented saumal. It is recommended for children and the elderly as a therapeutic and prophylactic means.

Shubat

Shubat is a traditional Kazakh fermented milk drink made from camel milk. In Kazakhstan, the drink is consumed during the summer. Compared to kumis, shubat has a higher fat content (up to 8 %). Due to the preservation requirements, it is almost not exported. Fermented cream is also collected from the surface of the drink. Fresh camel's milk is poured into a wooden tub, filling the leaven beforehand, afterwards the lid is tied or clogged, and then left to sour for a day. Shubat, unlike kumis, is well mixed well before serving. Also, shubat is thicker than kumis and has a white color.

Ayran

Kurt

Kurt was invented by the nomadic peoples of Central Asia. Typically, it is a white ball (sometimes flattened) the size of an apricot or smaller, sometimes made in the form of cylinders by squeezing in the hand.

Salted and dried, in the form of balls or cylinders, compressed in the hand and sometimes retaining traces of compression.

Boiled and dried. The mass is boiled for two to three hours, after that it is rolled in the form of balls or cylinders, which are then dried in the sun.

Boiled and paste-like. Such kurt is added to sorpa (broth).

It should be mentioned that dried kurt can also be added to the broth; however, in this case, it should first be softened in water or broth.

Kazakhs often add sour kurt to fatty meat soups.

Kurt is made from sheep, goat, or cow milk.

First, milk is fermented. Then produced katyk is placed in a cloth bag and hung in the shade for a few days to pump the serum. Salt and ground red pepper are added to the produced this way suzbe. After that, it is rolled into balls about the size of a walnut and dried in the sun for a few days until solid, covered with gauze. Finally, it is stored in canvas bags in a dry, ventilated place for up to 1 month.

Boiled kurt is made from filtered and boiled for 2-3 hours katyk, without adding salt.

Katyk

Katyk is made from natural milk by fermenting it with special bacterial cultures. From all other types of curdled milk, katyk differs in its preparation from boiled milk, which provides a higher fat content. Before fermentation, the milk is often evaporated by a third during boiling. It is fermented for 6-10 hours in heat (20-40 degrees), avoiding shaking and stirring. Often tinted with beets or cherries. Modern manufacturers provide katyk not only with traditional, but also with reduced fat content.

After pumping the whey from katyk, suzbe is obtained.

Uyz

Uyz is a thick sticky yellow liquid with a high content of proteins, presented mainly by serum albumins. Colostrum differs significantly from normal mature milk in its quantitative composition. It contains less fat, lactose and water compared to human milk for the first 3-7 days, and animal milk for the first 7-10 days after delivery. Colostrum contains immunoglobulins and antitoxins, which support the formation of the so-called colostral immunity. Colostrum also normalizes the activity of the digestive tract. The Kazakhs divide colostrum (kaz. uyz) into three types: black colostrum - milk obtained right after calving; yellow colostrum - milk obtained following feeding of the offspring; white colostrum - milk obtained a day after calving.

Shelpek

Shelpek is a traditional flatbread made by frying in a large cauldron, there are three main types:

- crispy;

- soft, but not rich;

- both soft and rich at the same time;

Koktal

Koktal is a hot smoked fish with vegetables. It’s a dish of Kazakh cuisine and the cuisine of other peoples of Central Asia.

The peculiarity of the preparation is that the scales are not cleaned, and the fish itself is cut along the spine and opened like a book, then placed on the grill with the outer part. On the inner, unfolded part, smeared with mayonnaise, lay thinly sliced vegetables (for example, onions, tomatoes),with potatoes placed all around the fish. For smoking, "koktalnitsa" is used, with the help of twigs (or sawdust) of an apple tree.

Large fish weighing 3-5 kg, such as carp often used, with various vegetables, like potatoes, tomatoes, and onions.

The word "koktal" in Kazakh means willow. During past times, the fish was smoked by being placed or strung on willow branches. It was one of the most common dishes among the Kazakhs who lived on the banks of the Balkhash, Zaisan, Ili, Irtysh, and Ural rivers. Literally translated from Kazakh: "kok" - green," tal " — willow.

Bas-karyn

Bas-karyn is a dish made for special guests. It is considered to be a good alternative to the regular beshbarmak. The dish is prepared from mutton meat stuffed in a mutton stomach. Its name comes from the name of the components of the dish: the head (bas) and the stomach (karyn). The meat and pre-boiled head are stuffed into the stomach and cooked for several hours on coals in their own juice. You can add onions, bell peppers and potatoes. Such bas-caryn is usually enough to feed up to 6 people.

Zhent

Zhent is a Kazakh national festive dish made from millet groats (fried), with the addition of dried crushed cottage cheese, melted butter, sugar, honey, raisins, nuts and other ingredients. Zhent is usually served with tea. It is prepared after the birth of a child, on the occasion of shilde toya (celebration of the birth of a child), besiktoya (celebration of the first laying of a child in the cradle) and kyrkynanshygaru (celebration of forty days after the birth of a child).

Kazakhs prepare zhent as follows: a kilogram of sugar and 3-4 kilograms of butter are added to a bucket of fried millet (kaz. tary), then the resulting mass is stirred and served to the table. During the Great Patriotic War and in the post-war years, following method of preparation of zhent was common: aport was mixed with millet or corn grain in a mortar and pounded until the pulp of the aport soaked the crushed grain. The resulting mass was dried and cut into pieces.

Tandyr-Nan

Tandyr-Nan is traditional bread in the form of a flatbread, prepared in a traditional oven - tandyr. The usual ingredients of flatbreads are wheat flour, water, yeast, milk, margarine, sesame and poppy seeds.

It is usually served both with tea and with various dishes. There are many types of tandyr-nan, depending on the method of preparation, composition, and each nation has its own traditions and recipes.

Irimshik

Irimshik is something between cheese and curd, it is a very ancient recipe. Irimshik is made from goat's or sheep's milk in such a way that it remains soft for a long time. To make irimshik, you need to be patient, because it takes a long time to prepare, with special ingredients, such as rennet sourdough (there are many cooking options). Irimshik is divided into two types: red (kyzyl) and white (ak). The first one takes a long time to cook and is boiled to a red hue, then it is dried and eaten with butter and sour cream. Such type of irimshik can be stored for a very long time. White irimshik is prepared from fresh cottage cheese and can not be stored for a long time. Due to its caloric content, it is very good for children.

Nauryz-kozhe

Nauryz-kozhe is one of the oldest dishes of Kazakhstan. It is a special national dish that is prepared for the nauryz holiday (March 22). It is believed that one should eat plenty of Nauryz-kozhe in order to live in prosperity and satiety all year round. There are several variations of cooking this dish and each hostess prepares it differently. In the dish there should be seven essential ingredients: meat, flour, water, salt, millet, butter and milk - they represent the seven vital principles. Also, they symbolize the best benefits that can be given to a person. The dish must also be filled with sour-milk product.

Syrne

Syrne is somewhat similar to a meat stew. The main feature of the dish – lamb meat, which is used in the preparation of syrne, it should be very soft. Therefore, only young lamb is used in the recipe. The meat is marinated for a single hour in special spices, stewed for a long time without water and oil, and at the end of stewing vegetables are added. When the dish is ready, the meat is so soft that even the cartilage turns almost jelly-like. The dish is often supplemented with Kazakh bread – baursak.

Ulpershek

Ulpershek is a dish that fathers passed on to their daughters as a gift. This meant that the parents loved their daughter and were awaiting her visit.

The dish is made from the heart of a horse, which is stuffed, and then put in a bag of flour and left for a month. Afterwards, it can be cooked.

Bylamyk

This is a porridge made from hand-processed millet and milk. In ancient times, it was prepared specifically for women in labor. Millet is known to promote rapid recovery after childbirth and increase hemoglobin, and porridge contains a sufficient amount of calcium and fiber. This makes it a great addition to the limited diet of a young breast-feeding mother.

This dish consists of flour, milk, butter, juice of processed millet, sugar and salt to taste. First, fry the flour in butter until it is golden brown. After that, add milk, and after 5 minutes, millet. But the main thing is that the millet should be prepared in a natural manual way.

Syrbaz

Kuyrdak called syrbaz is prepared exclusively on kumys This fermented milk drink gives the dish a special piquancy and is considered a kind of "aperitif" that accelerates the appetite.

Kombe

The dish called kombe takes its name from the traditional method of cooking-burying it in burnign coals ("komu" in Kazakh - ”to bury"). Today, it is prepared in an oven that resembles a large jug, where stones, coals, firewood are laid, fire is lit, and then a leg of lamb or other part of the carcass is hung over the coals.Two hours - and the dish is ready. Cooks tell a legend that the ancestors prepared such food during long migrations, and... not for themselves! When someone fell behind on the way from the main nomad camp, those who  were in a hurry to go on the road buried the meat of a ram in the embers, so that the heat would not be wasted, and the meat was ready for the arrival of those who were late.

Zhauzhurek

Our ancestors prepared lamb liver for men, as it has an element that contributes to the production of the hormone of fearlessness. For children, the Kazakhs prepared zhauzhurek, so that they grow up bold and brave. Lamb liver contains heparin, which helps to prevent myocardial infarction. In modern conditions, this dish can be presented to guests as a hot snack.

Balkaimak

This sweet dessert tastes better than any candy! Honey sour cream, homemade iris – it can be called in different ways. By the way, the great composer Kurmangazy has a work with the same name "Balkaimak".

Fresh cream is cooked over low heat so that it does not turn into butter, adding a little honey and flour. In the end, everything is mixed and cooked on the fire for 10-15 minutes. Some people today use a similar recipe for impregnating cakes. And in nomadic times, balkaimak was also made as a medicine against gastritis and ulcers, adding a little red pepper.

Ormetos

Whenever son-in-law came for a visit, he was served a brisket - ormetos - as a sign of respect. Nowadays, when they cut a sheep, they throw out the entrails, wich contains collagen and elastin, which preserve youth. Ormetos is a sternum cut on both sides, resembling a bird with its wings out, a kind of wish of high flight to the son-in-law.

Mipalau

Mipalau is a dish made from sheep's brain, that is prepared by placing the brain in a wooden bowl, adding bone marrow, pieces of meat, salty fat broth and garlic. It is usually served to the most honored guests and elders. Mipalau is more nutritious than a regular meat dish.

Kattama-nan

Kattama-nan is a flaky flatbread with fried onions cooked in a frying pan.

Zhau buirek

Whenever the mother prepared her son for a trip, she cooked zhau buirek. It is a lamb liver cooked in the stomach of an animal. This cover preserved the liver for a long time, so the mother not have worried that her son would be hungry.