In the material culture of any ethnic group, there is a distinctive cuisine. It is no coincidence that experienced ethnographers and scholars recommend starting any study of unfamiliar lifestyles with the typical meals—both everyday and festive.
As is known, tastes are historically formed, largely influenced by the natural environment and way of life. If peoples engaged in active agriculture consume agricultural products, then for pastoralists and hunters, meat is the main food. At the same time, entire nations may disdain certain types of food that are highly esteemed by others. For instance, until recently, the Chinese and Japanese hardly consumed milk or any dairy products at all. In India, beef is not eaten. Peoples who practice Islam and Judaism do not eat pork, despite the fact that the prophet Muhammad was born in the Year of the Pig. Even the same product can be favored or disdained by different peoples, sometimes for reasons that are completely unclear. For example, both the Chinese and Japanese enjoy eating fish. However, in Japan, many dishes are made from raw fish, while the Chinese would never eat fish raw, even if it is well-salted. Thus, the concept of "balyk" (smoked fish) holds no meaning for a Chinese person.
It is in food that the ancient traditions of the people have proven to be the most resilient. The assortment of dishes and methods of preparation that have developed and been refined over centuries are deeply original and unique, and for those who try these dishes, a journey through Kyrgyzstan will acquire a special color and appeal.
One of the features of Kyrgyz cuisine is that the products largely retain their natural appearance and taste. The main ingredients remain meat, milk, vegetables, and fruits, with flour products being widely used.
Cold and hot meat appetizers hold an honored place in festive menus: sary kazy, kyima zhal, kerchö, chuchuk, kyima boor, kuurdak—made from boiled or fried chopped meat seasoned with vegetables, herbs, and spices. The basis of aspic dishes is jelly made from legs, heads, tongues, and spinal and cervical vertebrae, to which fruit and vegetable broths or juices are added. Aspic dishes such as kyltyrak shorpo, chilkildek, shor, kainatma, botom solkuldak, chuchuk zalivnoy have a special aroma, taste, and appearance.
Various salads are made from pickled, salted, soaked, and raw vegetables, adding eggs, fruits, meat, ayran, suzme, sour cream, vegetable oil, green peppers, onions, spices, and seasonings.
The most festive of the first courses is shorpo. The meat is boiled for a long time over low heat until all the beneficial substances pass into the broth, after which vegetables, spices, and seasonings are added. Shorpo turns out to be clear and aromatic. There are several dozen varieties of it, depending on the types of meat and fillers used.
The most honored place at the festive dastorkon is reserved for beshbarmak. If we say that it is finely chopped boiled meat mixed with noodles, sauce, and spices—we would say nothing. Beshbarmak (five fingers) can only be recognized by tasting it. This dish is as popular in Kyrgyzstan as pilaf is in Uzbekistan. However, pilaf is also loved here in the republic, though it differs somewhat from the Uzbek version in preparation and taste.
An obligatory component of the festive table is manti—minced meat wrapped in pieces of thinly rolled dough, seasoned with onions and spices. Manti are steamed in a special pot. There are as many recipes for their preparation as there are hostesses, but they all share a common quality—extraordinary taste, juiciness, and aroma.
We also prepare chuchvara—Kyrgyz dumplings, which, in addition to meat, use various combinations of vegetables and fruits as filling. One of the favorite dishes is the popular lagman throughout Central Asia (the Kyrgyz version has a predominant amount of meat and an abundance of vegetables in a distinctive spicy sauce). In general, meat in its various forms and combinations is the main treat for the Kyrgyz. There is even a special ceremony for serving meat at the dastorkon—"ustukan", where different parts of the sheep are served in strict sequence depending on the age and status of the guests.
Kyrgyz cuisine cannot be imagined without milk and dairy products—suzme and kurut, ayran and kaymak. Various flatbreads baked in a tandoor or kelichan are sometimes a component of dairy dishes. Fried pieces of dough (boorsok) are considered an ancient ritual dish. Pancakes (kuymak), layered flatbreads (kattama), and thin unleavened flatbreads (zhupka) are very popular.
Any treat in a Kyrgyz family begins with tea—black or green, with milk or kaymak, with melted butter and honey, and with Eastern sweets. From a European perspective, this seems like a curious situation: the meal begins with dessert. However, there is a reasonable centuries-old tradition behind this. A weary traveling nomad first wants to drink. And nothing quenches thirst from the road better than tea. As for the meat dish, one must wait—oh, how long.
From mare's milk, kumys is prepared, which is famous for its exceptional taste and healing properties. It is no coincidence that the people have noted: "Meat is the soul of a person, kumys is the blood of a person." For better kumys, usually prepared in summer pastures—dzhailoo, there is a special name: kyzyl kumys. It is made using a special bag—made from camel skin. There are many secrets associated with this traditional drink; kumys is better the more it is shaken; the strongest and therefore the best is considered to be the morning drink of kumys—the upper settled part is taken; kumys made from cow's milk is a drink for the poor; kumys is frozen in chunks and left until spring for fermentation. In ancient times, a noble deceased person was even washed with kumys.
Popular drinks include zharma, maksym, weak alcoholic bozo. Kyrgyz cuisine is also distinguished by a wide variety of fruit and berry drinks—chulu, as well as sherbets. It is also worth mentioning the world-famous balm "Arashan," which encompasses all the richness of nature, composed of twenty-three medicinal herbs that grow in the mountains of the republic.
The national cuisine is widely represented in the public catering establishments of Kyrgyzstan. Dishes that catch your eye can be ordered in restaurants and cafes. The most popular ones will always be offered in the menus of canteens, not to mention tea houses, lagman houses, manti houses, and khoshan houses...