Kazakh cuisine

Traditional Kazakh cuisine is the traditional food of the Kazakh people. It is focused on 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.[1] 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 a 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.[2]

Meat in various forms has always been the primary ingredient of Kazakh cuisine, and traditional Kazakh cooking is based on boiling. 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.[3]

A platter of horse meat served traditionally as an appetizer
Preparation of a meal in Kazakhstan
Qurt
Quwyrdaq
Shelpek
  1. ^ "Food in Kazakhstan - Kazakh Food, Kazakh Cuisine - traditional, dishes, history, common, meals, rice, people, favorite, make, customs". Foodbycountry.com. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Kazakhstan food and national meals". aboutkazakhstan.com. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  3. ^ "National dishes and meals: Kazakh culture and national traditions". Kazakhstan.orexca.com. Retrieved 2 August 2017.