Perhaps there is no country that has formed as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union and in which the anniversary of the October Revolution is celebrated. Not in Kyrgyzstan – on November 7, rallies and demonstrations with flowers were held in front of the monument to Lenin. 😮 Surprisingly, in a country where the majority of the population is Muslim, Christmas is considered a national holiday. Celebrations are arranged, horses are ridden. In the temples located in Kyrgyzstan, there are divine services dedicated to Christmas. The festive menu is also observed and is prepared in accordance with Orthodox recipes.
Strange and diverse country. Nomadic country. Their pride in nomadic life can also be seen on the national flag – a stylized symbol of the support hoop holding the yurt on a red background. Every year, nomadic festivals and fairs are held around Lake Issyk Kul, where all kinds of traditional games, horse races and wrestling can be watched. Apart from riders, Kyrgyz are also hunters. Golden eagles and hawks have long been very popular with locals. Very often winged predators are considered full members of the family. There are still people who study and train them from an early age. This is a whole art, so these people are treated with special respect by others.
The guest in the Kyrgyz house, according to locals, was sent from above (by the gods) and therefore they take care of him with great love and attention. Having received an invitation to visit the home of the Kyrgyz, do not forget to buy sweets for the table or a small souvenir for the hosts. Do not ask questions about their profits and do not share your own material problems. Kyrgyz have a strong sense of cultural heritage, and mixed marriages are the least common compared to other Soviet republics. Even in mixed marriages, the non-Kyrgyz partner is more likely to adopt the Kyrgyz language and culture. Because they live in isolated mountain groups, the Kyrgyz are a conservative people and highly value the family. They respect history and perceive themselves as part of its flow. It is a common family practice to be able to name all family members from the previous seven generations. Clan elders know the genealogy very well, which makes it difficult to lie about one’s origins. As clan membership remains extremely important for the social situation, some Kyrgyz are still trying to make their origins more noble than they really are.
The difficult nomadic life is the reason why women have the same weight in everyday life as men. There is a legend in the oral work about the young Janal-Murza, who led her tribe in the fight for freedom, because men could not do it. The role of women in society is much greater than in other Central Asian countries. Since independence, women have been attorneys general, education minister, foreign minister, and ambassadors to the United States and Canada.
The life of the Kyrgyz develops around the flocks – sheep, horses and yaks. From them the Kyrgyz get a lot of their food and raw materials. For this reason, Kyrgyz cuisine includes all mutton and noodles, and vegetables and fruits are almost non-existent. Most cooking techniques are aimed at preserving food, due to the nomadic lifestyle of the population. Horse meat is sometimes consumed in the form of sausages.
Besh barmak is a Kyrgyz national dish that is also popular in Kazakhstan and the Chinese province of Xinjiang. It is made from horse meat (sometimes mutton or beef), which is boiled for several hours in its own broth and then served on a bed of homemade noodles sprinkled with parsley and coriander. The meal is most often prepared for important events, such as birth, round anniversary, funeral or commemoration of the anniversary of death. If sheep is used instead of horse meat for the preparation of the dish, the boiled head of the animal is served to the most esteemed guest, and he cuts pieces of meat and offers them to the other diners.
Paloo is the Kyrgyz version of the pilaf, which is very common in Central Asia. It is pieces of meat (usually mutton or beef and in rare cases chicken) fried in a cauldron and mixed with fried carrots and cooked rice. The dish is seasoned with fried garlic cloves and red hot peppers. Uzgen paloo is made with local rice, which is grown in the southern region of Uzgen. Shirin paloo is a variant of the Azeri shirin plov and is a vegetarian dish in which the meat is replaced with dried fruits – prunes, apricots, raisins and more.
Pasta, such as dumplings and noodles, are also common in Kyrgyz cuisine. Manty are steamed dumplings stuffed with minced meat and onions. Samsi are small “pockets” of dough filled with meat or vegetables, very similar to Indian samosas. The filling is most often made of mutton, but can be chicken, cheese, cabbage, beef. Lagman is a very popular dish with noodles. It is made from thick, home-made noodles, covered with chopped peppers and other vegetables and served with hot vinegar sauce. The dish is spread throughout the country, but is not considered Kyrgyz, but Dungan (Dungans are Muslims of Chinese descent in the former Soviet Union and northwestern China).
The most common bread in the country is nan (traditional for Central Asia flat bread), but Russian hard breads are also quite popular. The combination of nan and tea is almost sacred in Kyrgyz culture. A good host always offers his guests bread and tea, even if they have only stopped by for a few minutes.
Traditional drinks are fermented mare’s milk koumiss (or koumiss) and beer. Fresh koumiss can be found only in the period May-August on the roads in the mountainous part of the country, but it is also available bottled in recent years in stores. Sut (sweet milk) is especially popular among nomads, and kefir, black and green tea are popular with both the nomadic and urban populations. Very popular, especially in summer, soft drink is maksym – slightly carbonated, made from fermenting grain. Traditionally, maksym is prepared by women for home consumption. According to the original recipe, it is made from malt, but it can also be prepared from other cereals.
Desserts are sweet treats such as baklava or dried fruit. Given the way of life, one can hardly expect cakes with chocolate, fondant, cream… However, I found a very simple cake – Kyrgyzstan apple cake. Here are the necessary products:
3-4 apples
1 tea cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tea cup flour
powdered sugar for sprinkling
Steps of preparation:
Definitely the most complicated thing in this cake is to peel and cut the apples into slices. Seriously! When you do, the cake is almost ready. 🙂
Sprinkle the apples with the sugar and mix gently so as not to crush them. Beat the eggs to get air and add them to the apples.
Finally, add the sifted flour and carefully mix everything with a spatula.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and pour the mixture. Bake for about 30-35 minutes at 180 degrees.
After it cools down a bit, take it out on a serving plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar. You can serve hot or cold.
That is all. And let me tell you – I had a lot of reservations about this cake. No leavening agents, the products are mixed in a strange order. I would beat the eggs with the sugar, then I would add the flour and finally the apples. But I decided to make the cake as described. And besides being mega easy, it turned out to be quite tasty. True, simple, but delicious. 🙂 You can prepare this cake in this version, or you can flavor it with cinnamon, for example. That taste would suit her. You can make it with a little brown sugar for a richer taste. You can improvise at all.
Next destination – Kiribati.
