Top 10 national dishes you should try in Kazakhstan 15 May 2015 43027 0 Kazakh national

food reflects the traditional nomadic lifestyle. And if you are planning to visit Kazakhstan,
be prepared to see a wide range of meat dishes. I can assure you that vegetarianism
is rarely practiced in this country. It is explained by the fact that the local climate
is challenging and the food has to provide a lot of energy. Some dishes may appear
extraordinary or even strange, but everything is worth trying at least once. 1. Beshbarmak
The national dish consists of boiled horse meat or mutton with large noodles and onions.
Traditionally beshbarmak is eaten with fingers (literally, "beshbarmak" means "five fingers")
from a common platter, with the family and guests sitting on the floor around a low-lying
table called dastarkhan. 2. Kazy This is a traditional sausage made from the rib meat
of horses. The meat is stuffed inside the animal’s intestines and then usually dried
or smoked before it is boiled for consumption. Kazy is an important part of any celebratory
meal. 3. Kuyrdak Kuyrdak is a national dish made from cow’s, horse’s or sheep’s chopped
heart, liver, kidneys boiled in oil, and served with onion and pepper. 4. Sorpa Sorpa
is a traditional hot broth usually drunk after eating beshbarmak. Sometimes it is served
with kurt (see below). 5. Airan This is a drinkable yogurt prepared from fermented cow’s
milk. 6. Kumys This is a dairy product made from mare’s milk fermented in big skin bags.
Sometimes the process of fermentation may take several days. Kumys is very delicious. But
be careful! It has an alcohol content. 7. Shubat Shubat is the camel’s milk made in the same
way as kumys. Both kumys and shubat are reputed to have wonderful health properties. 8.
Kurt This is a type of cheese made from dehydrated sour cream by forming small balls and
letting it dry. Traditionally, kurt was useful for long treks on horseback across the steppe. 9.
Baursaks This is a Kazakh national dish made from spherical or triangular pieces of dough
and fried in oil. People vary the recipe according to whether they want to make it sweet
or not. Sometimes it is described as a type of Asian doughnuts. Traditionally it is cooked for
an important party, like a wedding or even a memorial. People believe that the smell of the
oil and the frying baursak floats high into the sky so that your dead loved ones can feed
on the aroma and enjoy them with you. 10. Shelpek Shelpek is a flat cake made in the same
way as baursaks.

Kazakhstan food and national meals

Kazakhstan food info

First of all the guest of Kazakhstan family regaled with kumiss (the drink based on mare milk), shubat or
airan, next meal was tea with milk or cream, baursaks, raisins, irimshik, kurt. Then the guest was tasting
horse-flesh or mutton snacks - kazi, shuzhuk, zhal, zhaya, sur-et, karta, kabirga. Wheat flour cookies
were very common too.

Kumiss

Kumiss
Kazakhstan traditional food facts and features

The main meal of every dastarkhan and one of the most delicious for Kazakh people was Kazakh style
cooked meat. Boiled meat was served in large uncut pieces. The host was cutting the meat himself and
treat every guest: pelvic bones and shank for honourable old people, brisket for son-in-law or daughter-
in-law, neck-bone for girls and so on.

The most honorable guest received particular method cooked head of the ram. The guest should part
the head between people around the dastarkhan obeying to ancient ritual showing respectful attitude
to guests, old people, kids, near and far relations.

The delicious aromatic meat was eaten with thin boiled pieces of pastry. Excellent addition to this dish
was rich flavoured meat bouillon - sorpa, served in phials. Kumiss and tea were the last dishes of the
meal.

Besbarmak

Besbarmak

Kazi, Karta, Shuzhuk

Kazi, Karta, Shuzhuk

Kuirdak

Kuirdak

Today Kazakh meal is something different from the old one but still it is imbued with ancient laws of
hospitability. On the contrary the hospitability is larger then ever for now because not only Kazakhs but
people of various nations (Kazakhstan is a multinational country) have a meal around the dastarkhan:
Russians, Tatars, Ukrainians, Uzbeks, Germans, Uigurs, Koreans and more. All these nations made their
contribution on Kazakhs cookery.

Kazakhstan cuisine includes not only traditional national Kazakhstan dishes but the best dishes of Uzbek,
Russian, Tatar, Korean and other cookeries. That’s why Kazakh cuisine saving its national characteristic
features has some international features.
The assortment of food groceries was changed slightly. During its long history Kazakhstan people
gathered a huge experience in cooking dishes from meat and milk. And modern times filled it with a
large range of vegetables, fruit, fish, sea stuff, baked, flour dishes and confectionery.

Baursaki

Baursaki

Sorpa and Baursaki

Sorpa and Baursaki

Lagman

Lagman

But still the most popular Kazakhstan national foodstuff is meat. From olden times Kazakh cookery was
special due to its original technology. Some features of Kazakh people living left a mark on Kazakh style
of food cooking. The traditional national Kazakhstan cookery is based on boiling. Exactly boiling helps to
cook meat with a lot of delicate tastes, gives it softness and aroma.

Kazakh people placed high emphasis on long-term storage of foodstuff. A huge part of meat was
prepared for future use being salted, dried. Delicatessen was cooked mainly from horse meat - kazi,
shuzhuk, zhal, zhaya, karta and others.

Milk and milk products were widely spread. The preference was for the sour milk products because it
was easier to save it during nomadic life. Bread was usually made like cookies. The most popular baked
dish is baursaki.

The ancient plates and dishes were made from leather, wood, ceramics. Every family had cast-iron
cauldron (kazan) for cooking. The tea was boiled in cast-iron jugs, later in samovars.

Palau

Palau

Manti
Manti

Samsa

Samsa

Chak-Chak
Kazakh national food reflects the traditional nomadic lifestyle. And if you are planning to visit
Kazakhstan, be prepared to see a wide range of meat dishes. I can assure you that vegetarianism is
rarely practiced in this country. It is explained by the fact that the local climate is challenging and the
food has to provide a lot of energy. Some dishes may appear extraordinary or even strange, but
everything is worth trying at least once.

1. Beshbarmak The national dish consists of boiled horse meat or mutton with large noodles and
onions. Traditionally beshbarmak is eaten with fingers (literally, "beshbarmak" means "five
fingers") from a common platter, with the family and guests sitting on the floor around a low-
lying table called dastarkhan.

The serving ritual

The serving of beshbarmak is steeped in ritual. If an animal, such as a sheep, was slaughtered in a
guest's honor, then the host serves ustukan, different cuts of meat, to different people, depending on
their gender, age, and rank in the social structure. As a sign of respect, the oldest people and honored
guests are always presented the prime cuts of the meat.

Festive beshbarmak served with sausage. On special occasions, the guest of honor, the eldest male, or
the youngest male, receives the bash, the head of the animal, and cuts pieces from it to distribute to
other people. The oldest men receives the jambash, the thigh bone. The oldest and most respected
women receive the kuiruk or kuymulchak, the tailbone. The legs and shoulders are presented to the
younger adults, and the smaller bones are reserved for the daughter-in-law of the house. The omurtka,
the spine, is given to the children.

2. Kazy This is a traditional sausage made from the rib meat of horses. The meat is stuffed inside
the animal’s intestines and then usually dried or smoked before it is boiled for consumption.
Kazy is an important part of any celebratory meal.

Serving

Kazi is often eaten cold, sometimes sliced and served as an appetizer. In Uzbekistan it is often served
with Pilaf and in Kazakhstan it can be put into Beshbarmak. In mountainous regions sometimes kazy is
made with venison.

3. Kuurdak

Kuurdak is a national dish made from cow’s, horse’s or sheep’s chopped heart, liver, kidneys boiled in
oil, and served with onion and pepper.

4. Sorpa Sorpa is a traditional hot broth usually drunk after eating beshbarmak.
Sometimes it is served with kurt (see below).
5. Airan This is a drinkable yogurt prepared from fermented cow’s milk.