Kazakh cuisine in its modern sense is relatively young: it begins with the story of the Kazakh transition to a sedentary lifestyle. However, the most original and delicious dishes of the Kazakh people were inherited from the nomadic ancestors: it is a variety of dairy-products, cheeses, sausages and unique dishes of horse meat or lamb Lamb - guide on meat .

History and the Present

Kazakh people from ancient times led a nomadic life, engaged in pasture cattle breeding. Such a way of life could not help but have an impact on the national culture, including the national cooking. A limited set of food products, as well as poorly developed social and economic links with other tribes determined the specifics of Kazakh cuisine.

If many other peoples in the diet dominated by cultural and to some extent wild plants, and the meat was a product of expensive, and often available only on holidays, on the territory of Kazakhstan, the situation was reversed. Nomads have virtually unlimited number of meat (horse meat, lamb, camel and later beef) and milk, but the vegetables and grain products was very small.

The nomadic way of life has left its mark on the utensils used. Kazakhs used only wood and leather ware, which could not be broken, and not too heavy. The special leather bags ready mare and other dairy products, and in wooden tubs (rare in bags of skin) cooked meat. The water is heated in a pot, dipping into a bag or tub of hot stones. In such circumstances, it was impossible to prepare a soup, and main dishes are obtained only from cooked meat. Only two or three centuries ago, the Kazakhs began to actively use the iron cauldrons, which were preparing fried dishes borrowed from other nations.

Naturally, in such circumstances, national cuisine was severely limited in their capabilities. All efforts were focused on culinary invention dairy and meat semi-finished products, which could be stored for a longer or shorter time, and not boring. So there were a variety of sausages, smoked meat and pickles - horse meat and mutton. From milk prepared various dairy products, ripening cheese and dairy concentrates. For example, cottage cheese rolled into small balls and dried, and the serum that remained after the receipt of cottage cheese, boiled until thick, shaped cakes of it too, and they were dried. All of these products meet the basic needs of the nomads: they are not spoiled, were tasty, well-saturated and can be used without pretreatment.

Selling products cattle, Kazakhs were able to purchase cereals - primarily millet, and later wheat, rye and flour them. Much later began to cultivate grains in Kazakhstan. Flour and its products have won a place in the Kazakh menu only in the late nineteenth century. Then the traditional menu has changed: In addition to meat and dairy products in it were the product of flour.

Features kitchen

Despite some isolation from their neighbors, the Kazakhs, Kazakh cuisine has borrowed a lot from the Uzbek, Tajik, Uighur. Most of these loans on technologies that have been used for the preparation of Kazakh dishes. So the Kazakhs were manti Manti: big "brothers" dumplings   and samosa as well as fried foods. Borrowed is a tradition of use of certain products, such as tea, melons, vegetables. Already in the twentieth century settled Kazakhs took over the tradition of eating vegetables, eggs, poultry meat. All these loans have greatly diversify the usual menu.

The most typical technique of cooking in the kitchen of the Kazakh and remains to this day cooking. Meat hot dishes mostly consist of meat and dough is still a wide range of various sausages and smoked. In cooking, hardly used minced meat - in the old days, this treatment was too difficult for nomadic tribes. Typically, the meat is boiled one large piece, and only then, immediately before use, is crushed. Also widely used meat and offal - liver, kidney, lungs, brains.

Soups because of the specific conditions of Kazakh cuisine knows, but there are a lot of dishes that are semi-liquid consistency and occupy, in fact, an intermediate position between the soup and the main course. These savory food is, for example, known to all beshbarmek. The name of this dish translated means "five fingers" - the dish is eaten by hand. Beshbarmek is cooked in a strong and fatty cuts of meat broth and thick noodles, filled with the same broth. By beshbarmeku offered special cakes.

Traditional lunch

Modern Kazakhs along with local food use, of course, dishes and other cuisines. However, if you want you can always surprise the guests and dinner in national traditions. This dinner begins with koumiss. After kumys guests are offered tea with cream and treats - raisins, nuts, fried in butter balls muffin - baursaks.

After the sweets comes the turn of meat snacks Low calorie snacks   horsemeat: shuzhuk, kazi, Zhai, stings, map and other snacks of smoked, boiled, salted meat. It served as a dish of horsemeat with sheep Pluck. Despite the fact that snacks are presented solely meat products, due to the different methods of preparation, they have different flavors. Eat snacks with cakes smeared with butter and fresh vegetable salad (a tribute to the modern tradition).

The next dish - kuyrdak. This roast mutton offal. Then comes samsa (meat pies). Ends beshbarmek lunch. After this dish again offer guests a mare, and then again to tea, this time without the milk and cream.

Maria Bykov

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