Meat Dishes.
In the second half of the 19th century and until the beginning of the 20th century, meat played an important role in the diet of the Kyrgyz. The Kyrgyz consumed mutton, horse meat, beef, and to a lesser extent camel meat and goat meat. In areas where yaks were raised, yak meat was often consumed. Mutton and horse meat were especially valued. In wealthy households, beef was looked down upon as it was considered smelly - sasyk, and those wealthy individuals who owned a large number of cows were called sasyk bay - literally "smelly bay." For meat preservation, they preferred to slaughter sheep and horses. There were several methods of meat preservation: kurgatuu - drying, tonduruu - freezing, sursutuu - smoking. Meat was consumed only in boiled and fried forms. The first method was the most common way of preparing meat dishes. The Kyrgyz ate meat both well-cooked and slightly undercooked, tough, especially mutton. The last method was the least common and localized in certain areas of southern Kyrgyzstan. It is known that this way of consuming meat was practiced by Mongolic-speaking peoples, particularly the Kalmyks. Meat was rarely fried, on feast days, during campaigns, or while hunting, i.e., in extreme conditions, meat was boiled in cast-iron cauldrons - kazan. There were also other extreme methods of frying and roasting meat used by hunters and shepherds in field conditions: tash kordo, tash kazan - roasting the carcass of small livestock using heated stones thrown into the abdominal cavity of the unskinned animal; frying in a pit covered with earth, on which a fire is lit, shishkebek - roasting over an open fire, etc.
A sheep was considered the most preferable animal to slaughter in honor of a small number of guests, as well as to meet the family's everyday meat needs. For guests, they tried to slaughter valukhs, one- to two-year-old lambs, preferring black ones, as their meat had the best taste qualities.
Dishes made from mutton can be divided into two groups: those made from offal - ich et and those made from the actual meat - et. From the offal of a freshly slaughtered animal, they prepared zhorgyom - a dish made from lungs and stomach, cut into strips and intertwined with intestines, byzhi - finely chopped liver and fat stuffed into the duodenum and boiled. Among various territorial groups of Kyrgyz, there are several varieties of byzhi: while the Issyk-Kul and Naryn Kyrgyz prepare it as described above, in the South, mainly in Alai and Chon Alai, they make byzhi or olobo byzhi - sausage from finely chopped and fried meat with rice or flour. In the Talas Valley, they prepare brain, fat, and blood in this way, with the fat being internal. However, for all territorial groups of Kyrgyz, byzhi uses liver, finely chopped meat, fat, and blood. Dishes made from offal were loved by all groups of Kyrgyz: olobo or kuygan oto - dishes made from sheep lungs filled with milk, melted butter, and boiled in water. Meat dishes made from mutton include kuurdak - small pieces of meat fried in oil, kuyruk boor - boiled tail fat and liver, and, in fact, et - meat. Goat meat was considered medicinal.
Dishes made from horse meat were less labor-intensive than those made from mutton. Horse meat, especially that of a foal, was always preferred over meat from other domestic animals. All groups of Kyrgyz, except for the Pamiri (Murghab) where there were fewer horses, consumed horse meat. Naturally, it was mainly available to wealthy households. From it, they made dishes that were particularly popular. This primarily included chuchuk - horse sausage made from underbelly meat - kazy. Among the Kyrgyz of various territorial groups, there were mainly three varieties of chuchuk: made only from underbelly fat, from ribs taken along with underbelly fat, and tai chuchuk - sausage made from foal meat. The first and third varieties were considered the most common.
In the ethno-cultural traditions of the Kyrgyz people, the custom of distributing meat according to the gender and age composition of guests, the prestige of certain pieces zhiliktar, and the nature of the meal (feast, matchmaking, funeral, ritual, cult-ritual) had an exceptionally important significance. According to historical sources, this custom is very ancient and has deep roots. Each piece - zhiliktar had its own significance. For the distribution of pieces of meat at toyah, a special person was appointed - chygdanchy or byokool. He had the responsible role of correctly distributing pieces of meat among the diners. In case of error, according to customary law - adata, he bore responsibility and even punishment in the form of a fine - ayypa. Pieces of mutton were served to guests in a certain order, according to the status of the guests, starting from the highest: jambash - ilium, zhoto zhilik - tibia, kashka zhilik - femur, kar zhilik - radius, kuy-mulchak - coccyx, rib, daly - scapula, karchyga - part of the carcass from ribs to thighs. Regarding the sheep's head, different groups of Kyrgyz had different traditions (Abramzon, 1990. P. 158, 159).
The sheep's head bash was boiled after removing the lower jaw - til jaak, which was not served to guests but consumed by the household members. The head itself was served to guests in some groups of Kyrgyz, adding to it one of the honorable pieces: the ilium or radius or ribs, while in other groups it was served to the youngest guest. In bowls intended for the female half of the guests, the most honorable piece is considered to be the tail or coccyx - kuymul-chak. The brisket - tesh was served to newlyweds. Among the Kyrgyz of Eastern Pamir, Chon Alai (Abramzon, 1990. P. 159), as well as Kakshaala (China), the most honorable was considered to be the sheep's tail - kuyruk (Kyrgyzdar. 1997. P. 576).
The most revered part of the meat among the Kyrgyz was the hindquarters, the sacrum - ucha if it was horse meat, san et if it was sheep meat. San et consists of three joints/parts: jambash, kashka zhilik, and zhoto zhilik. These parts of mutton were always intended for honored guests - aksakal oroolu (the elder) ustukandaru. Some pieces of meat were not included in the guest meal at all. These primarily include the knee bone up to the scapula - kun zhilik, neck or cervical vertebrae - moyun (meat taken from the neck could be served). When serving the scapula - daly, the cartilage - kechir was necessarily cut off. If only women were at the guest table, the sheep's head was never served.
It was categorically forbidden to treat guests with pieces of meat from small domestic animals that were cut in half. As for large livestock, the meat was boiled after being cut. However, when serving, the prestige of the cut pieces was taken into account.
The distribution of boiled pieces of meat to guests - ustukan was an important element of food culture. The determination of the prestige of certain parts of the animal's carcass is ancient in nature and may have formed in the environment of primitive hunters. This assumption is based on the analogy with the custom of Kyrgyz hunters to distribute the carcasses of wild sheep and goats to everyone they meet. This ritual was called "shyraalgy", when a hunter met his prey, he would say a formula of greeting “shyraalga, batyr” “with a successful hunt, batyr.” The hunter distributed pieces of meat according to age and social status. Sometimes he could distribute the entire trophy in this manner.
Consumption of dairy products by Kyrgyz in the second half of the 19th century.