FOOD ENCYCLOPEDIA
KAZAKHSTAN RECIPES BASTURMA PLOV (RICE PILAF) MUTTON KESPE BAURSAKI (FRIED DOUGHNUTS) RICE SORPA 1 GEOGRAPHIC SETTING AND ENVIRONMENT KAZAKHSTAN IS LOCATED IN SOUTHERN ASIA BETWEEN RUSSIA AND UZBEKISTAN APPROXI- MATELY 80 PERCENT OF THE LAND CONSIST OF LOWLANDS, PLAINS, AND PLATEAUS STRONG WINDS OFTEN SWEEP THROUGH THESE FLAT LANDS THE COUNTRY IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF TWO ALASKAS— AROUND ONE MILLION SQUARE MILES HOWEVER, ITS POPULATION IS ONLY ABOUT 17 MILLION, LESS THAN NEW YORK CITY THE CLIMATE IN KAZAKHSTAN IS VARIED, AND DIFFERENT PLANTS AND ANIMALS ARE FOUND ACCORDING TO REGION PARTS OF KAZAKHSTAN BECOME EXTREMELY COLD IN THE WINTER AND VERY HOT DURING THE SUMMER THE KARA KUM DESERT, THE WORLD’S FOURTH LARGEST DESERT, OCCUPIES MOST OF CENTRAL KAZAKHSTAN KAZAKHS CONSTITUTE 46 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION AND RUSSIANS, 35 PERCENT THE REMAINING POPULATION CONSISTS OF UKRAINI- ANS, GERMANS, UZBEKS, TATAR, AND OTHER GROUPS 2 HISTORY AND FOOD FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, KAZAKHS WERE HERD- ERS WHO RAISED QAZAQI QOY (FAT-TAILED SHEEP), CATTLE, AYÏR TÜYE (BACTRIAN CAMELS), AND AT (HORSES) KAZAKH NOMADS HEAVILY RELIED ON THEIR ANIMALS FOR TRANSPORTATION, CLOTHING, AND FOOD THEY USUALLY ATE MUTTON (SHEEP), MILK, CHEESE, AND FLAT BREAD BAKED ON A GRID- DLE KAZAKH NOMADS MIGRATED FROM REGION TO REGION, DEPENDING ON AVAILABLE WATER AND PASTURES FOR THEIR LIVESTOCK THEY ALSO PRO- DUCED GOODS THAT THEY TRADED FOR GRAIN, VEG- ETABLES, AND FRUITS AT MARKETS IN THE MORE SETTLED CITIES OF SOUTH KAZAKHSTAN CONE- SHAPED TENTS CALLED YURTS WERE THEIR HOMES, WHICH WERE EASY TO SET UP, DISMANTLE, AND CARRY THE NOMADIC WAY OF LIFE BEGAN TO CHANGE IN THE 1800S, WHEN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE CON- QUERED THE KAZAKHSTAN REGION MANY RUS- SIANS SETTLED IN THE AREA, WHICH GREATLY REDUCED THE GRAZING LANDS NEEDED FOR HERDS KAZAKHSTAN BECAME PART OF THE SOVIET JUNIOR WORLDMARK ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FOODS AND RECIPES OF THE WORLD KAZAKHSTAN UNION IN 1922, AND KAZAKH NOMADS BEGAN TO SETTLE IN RURAL VILLAGES OR CITIES THERE ARE, HOWEVER, SOME KAZAKHS WHO STILL LIVE THE NOMADIC WAY OF LIFE, MOVING WITH THEIR YURTS AND HERDS TO SUMMER PASTURES EVERY YEAR THE SILK ROAD WAS A MAJOR TRADE AND TRAVEL ROUTE THAT RAN THROUGH PRESENT-DAY KAZAKHSTAN BETWEEN ASIA, THE MIDDLE EAST, AND EUROPE IN ANCIENT TIMES PRESENT-DAY KAZAKH CUISINE INCLUDES SOME UZBEK, RUS- SIAN, AND KOREAN FOODS MAINLY FOUND IN CIT- IES TRADITIONAL KAZAKH FOODS REFLECT THE NOMADIC PEOPLES AND ALSO MIDDLE EASTERN INFLUENCES HORSEMEAT AND MUTTON ARE THE MOST COMMON FOODS MIDDLE EASTERN METH- ODS OF PREPARING AND SEASONING RICE, VEGETA- BLES, KEBABS (SKEWERED MEAT), AND YOGURT HAVE BEEN ADDED ALTHOUGH KAZAKH CUISINE HAS SOME RUSSIAN INFLUENCE (AND VICE- VERSA), THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE LIVING IN KAZAKH- STAN HAVE GENERALLY RETAINED THEIR NATIVE CUL- TURE AND CUISINE A TRADITIONAL RUSSIAN MEAL INCLUDES MEAT, POTATOES, DUMPLINGS, AND VEGETABLES COLD DISHES CALLED ZAKUSKI (SMOKED FISH, PICKLES, OR ONIONS) MAY BE SERVED FIRST BORSCHT (BEET SOUP) MAY BE EATEN NEXT, FOLLOWED BY MEAT OR FISH WITH BREAD FAVORITE DRINKS SUCH AS BLACK TEA AND VODKA ARE PART OF KAZAKH AND RUSSIAN CUS- TOM RUSSIAN FOOD IS FOUND IN ABUNDANCE IN NORTHERN KAZAKHSTAN AND LARGER CITIES 3 FOODS OF THE KAZAKHS BASED ON NOMADIC ROOTS, HORSE MEAT AND MUTTON (MEAT FROM SHEEP) ARE THE BASIS OF A MAJORITY OF KAZAKH DISHES DISHES INCLUDE SHUZHUK (A TYPE OF SAUSAGE MADE FROM SMOKED HORSE MEAT), AND KUYRDAK KUYRDAK (ALSO SPELLED KUIRDAK) IS PREPARED FROM A FRESHLY SLAUGHTERED HORSE, SHEEP, OR COW, AND CONSISTS OF THE ANIMAL’S HEART, LIVER, KID- NEYS, AND OTHER ORGANS THEY ARE CUT INTO PIECES, BOILED IN OIL, AND SERVED WITH ONION AND PEPPER BASTURMA IS MUTTON EATEN WITH FRESH CUCUMBERS AND TOMATOES ROUND, FLAT LOAVES OF BREAD ACCOMPANY MOST MEALS BASTURMA INGREDIENTS 1¾ POUNDS LAMB MEAT (WITH OR WITHOUT BONES), CUT INTO PIECES 4 ONIONS, SLICED 6 TABLESPOONS VINEGAR 2 TABLESPOONS OIL 6 TOMATOES, SLICED 6 CUCUMBERS, SLICED ARAL SEA IN DU S G A N G E S AFGHANISTAN PAKISTAN NEPAL BANGLADESH BHUTAN KYRGYSTAN TURKMENISTAN UZBEKISTAN TAJIKISTAN KAZAKHSTAN I N D I A C H I N A R U S S I A IRAN TASHKENT DUSHANBE ASHKHABAD KABUL NEW DELHI DHAKA ALMATY (ALMA-ATA) ISLAMABAD ¯ ¯ ¯ KATHMANDU ¯ ¯ KÖSHETAU FURMANOVO ZAYSAN TEJEN ZARANJ SAINDAK SURAT LAKHPAT PASNI G U LF OF O M A N ARABIAN SEA KAZAKHSTAN 1000 KILOMETERS 750 MILES