What to eat Kazakhstan? culinary specialties and gastronomy

Despite its long tradition of livestock farming, Kazakhstan remains a major agricultural country in every sense of the word. With some 2.7 million km² - almost five times the size of France - the country grows wheat, barley, rice, sunflower, flax and corn, not to mention sugar beet, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, melons and much more. Spices and herbs are used sparingly in local cuisine, including black pepper, cumin, turmeric, dill, parsley, celery, coriander and sesame seeds. Meat consumption is high, and popular meats include beef and mutton, as well as horsemeat and sometimes camel meat for festive occasions. While the country remains largely Muslim, pork consumption is common among the Russian-speaking minority.

A number of dairy products are also derived from these farming practices. Qurt is prepared by squeezing the curds from the cream to extract as much liquid as possible. This is then salted and rolled into balls, which are left to dry for a long time. These hard little balls are then rehydrated and added to soups, salads and other dishes in sauce. Qaymaq is a thick, slightly fermented cream, rather like mascarpone, generally used for dessert. Sary may is the local equivalent of clarified butter, traditionally carried in a leather bag.Irimshik is a surprising milk-based preparation to which sourdough and sugar are added, and which is left to caramelize until a brown, crumbly, slightly sweet cheese is obtained.

Although the country has no coastline to speak of, there are numerous lakes and rivers - not forgetting, of course, the Caspian Sea, technically considered a salt lake - teeming with fish: pike-perch, pike-perch, salmon, trout, roach, carp, mullet, bream, catfish, asp and more. But the king of these waters is, of course, the sturgeon. There are several species, including the famous Beluga sturgeon, sought after both for its flesh and for its eggs, which produce the famous caviar. Consumed in moderation, however, not only because of the lower price in Kazakhstan, but also because of the increasing scarcity of this species, greatly threatened by overfishing.

Western-style restaurants are often found only in the capital and the country's major cities. Some offer Western cuisine, but it's generally not the best you'll find in Central Asia. Russian restaurants, on the other hand, are more widespread, and offer quality cuisine. Most of the time, the best meals are to be found in small bazaar stalls. The smoke from the barbecues is an infallible guide to the restaurant quarters in the bazaars. This is where you'll find the full panoply of Central Asian gastronomy. In the steppe regions, you'll have to do your own cooking or rely on the generosity of the locals, which is far from a problem, as traditions of hospitality are still widely respected throughout the country.

Eating is normally done with the right hand in Kazakhstan, the left being reserved for impure tasks, although the Russian presence from the ^19th century onwards gradually standardized the use of cutlery. The dastarkhān is the space where food is laid out for a traditional meal. It generally consists of a tablecloth or low table on which dishes and drinks are placed. Although largely less religious than other Muslim countries, thanks to the influence of the USSR, Islam remains the religion of around 70% of Kazakhs, and the Ramadan period is still celebrated with fervor. For around a month, Muslims must abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset. At dusk, the iftar heralds the breaking of the fast, and the meals, shared between families, neighbors and friends, are intended to be very generous. Eid el-fitr marks the end of Ramadan, and also concludes with large banquets. In addition to Muslims, the country is also home to the Russian community, most of whom are Orthodox Christians.

The Kazakh national dish is certainly beshbarmak. Often associated with traditional nomadic meals, it consists of horsemeat (sometimes replaced by beef or mutton), potatoes, onions and a large lasagne-like pasta. As its name (literally translated as "five fingers") suggests, this dish is traditionally eaten with the fingers. It's usually served at banquets, local celebrations or to honor a special guest. Another dish emblematic of the country's nomadic roots, kazy is a kind of horsemeat sausage cut into large pieces and stuffed into an intestine, before being dried and/or smoked. The kazy is then cooked for several hours. Cut into thin slices and served with chopped onions, it plays an important role in Kazakhstani cuisine and is present at almost every festival.

A classic dish widely eaten in Central Asia and neighboring regions of the Middle East, plov is a rice-based dish with mutton, carrots, onions and spices. It can also be garnished with chickpeas, raisins, stuffed grape leaves, quinces or roasted heads of garlic. Plov can be found every day in bazaar canteens, most often at lunchtime, while in families it is cooked on Thursdays and for every special occasion: weddings, the end of Ramadan, etc. Large dishes are brought to the table, and people eat by hand, pressing rice balls against the edge of the dish.

Another popular item is the chachlik, a skewer whose name literally means "six pieces", in reference to its composition, alternating between pieces of meat and fat. There's a choice of mutton (the most common), beef or chicken. Chachliks can also be made with mutton liver, or pieces of fat from the sheep's tail - the noblest part for connoisseurs, but not always digestible for Western stomachs. They are always accompanied by dill and raw onions in vinegar. Kuurdak consists of meat and offal from mutton, horse or beef, sautéed with a generous amount of onion. You can enjoy these meat dishes with tandyr nan, beautifully decorated wheel-shaped breads baked in terracotta tandoor ovens.

Another snack found everywhere in Central Asian bazaars, samsa (samoussas) are triangular doughnuts filled with meat and onions, perfect for impromptu snacking. Shelpek is a type of pancake that can be filled with ground meat for savoury dishes, or sour cream and jam for sweet ones. And let's not forget the qattama, a flaky, slightly oily pancake flavored with dill and chives. Fish dishes are rare in the country, but the koktal is not to be missed. This specialty consists of a whole fish, sometimes smoked, garnished with sliced tomatoes and finely chopped onions. The whole dish is grilled and served directly from the grill.

Of Chinese inspiration, manty is very popular with Kazakhs. These steamed ravioli are filled with a rich stuffing of mutton and onions. Before serving, they are sometimes topped with sour yoghurt, chili purée and chopped dill. Another dish from the Middle Kingdom, laghman, are wheat noodles found in every bazaar in the country. Usually served in a rich, spicy broth, with vegetables and pieces of meat, they are known as " latiaozi " in Chinese. Another popular soup is shorpa, made with potatoes, carrots and boiled mutton.

The Russian presence is still very much felt, making many of the gastronomic specialties usually found in Moscow or St. Petersburg restaurants unavoidable. These include bortch (beet and red cabbage soup with tomato and beef), pelmeni (beef and/or pork ravioli, sometimes with potato, cabbage or mushrooms, served in a light broth) and beef Stroganoff (beef in a sauce with cream, mushrooms, paprika, white wine and tomato purée). Everywhere you turn, you can order zakouski - or "appetizers" - which are small starters to share: marinated fish, dried meat, cheese, pickles and other pickled vegetables, eggplant puree and, of course, sturgeon or salmon caviar.

You won't find many traditional desserts in Kazakhstan, but you can still enjoy baursaki, a kind of sugar doughnut that's very popular at celebrations, or çäkçäk, which consists of small fried dumplings coated with a thick honey syrup and compacted in a special mold. Once cooled, the çäkçäk is unmolded and decorated with dried fruit and sometimes sweets. In larger cities, Western patisseries and cafés offer a wider variety of pastries.

Kumiss is a nomadic specialty, made in spring and summer and consumed all year round. It's a very light spirit made from fermented mare's milk. Kumiss is made by beating the milk poured into a sheepskin skinskin just after milking. This drink is supposed to have medicinal virtues. In any case, it's a formidable beverage for most Western stomachs. There are several types of kumiss, differing essentially in the number of days of fermentation. There's also a steppe variant, shoubat, made from camel milk.

Tea is an essential part of any meal or hospitality. Brought over from China by the Silk Road, it is sipped at any moment, but remains surrounded by an unshakeable ceremonial. The teapot is always picked up and the cups offered with the right hand, sometimes with the left hand over the heart. The serving of tea is precise: it must be poured three times into a cup before being returned to the teapot, before it can be drunk. The cups are never filled to the brim: that would be a sign that it's time for the guest to leave.

Vodka, brought by the Russians throughout the colonial period, has remained firmly anchored in Kazakh customs. At banquets, birthdays and weddings, it flows freely with fevered toasts. Indeed, despite a largely Muslim population, alcohol consumption remains relatively common in the country. Russian beer such as Baltika (3, 5, 7 or 9, depending on alcohol content) is very popular in Kazakhstan, although it is tending, particularly in bars, to be supplanted by the Turkish brand Efes. But the country also has its own brands, the most popular of which is Sibirskaya, a very mild blond beer that can be found in bottles in all the country's supermarkets, and on draught in bars in Astana and Almaty.