Food and drink

Kazakhs have developed a number of techniques to preserve and prepare their main commodities, meat and milk. These methods are still in use today: salting, drying, smoking, pickling or even a combination of these. In the past, one rather piquant process of salting ^and tenderizing was to place a flat piece of meat under your saddle until it was “ridden to tenderness”, the horse’s sweat serving to salt the meat. Travellers may find comfort in the thought that this kind of preservation is no longer practised.

The following glossary of food and drink should make it easier to read menus and Provide visitors to a dastarkhan with some background information. The most popular Kazakh dishes and a number of commonly eaten Korean, Uygur, Uzbek and Arabian dishes are included.