Kazakh cuisine traditionally revolves around mutton and horse meat and as well as various milk products. The cooking techniques and major ingredients have been strongly influenced by the nation’s nomadic way of life. For example, most cooking techniques are aimed at long-term preservation of food.
Meat in various forms has always been the primary ingredient of Kazakh cuisine. Among the most popular meat dishes are kazy and chuzhuk (horsemeat sausages), kuyrdak (dish made from roasted sheep offal and fat), besbarmak (boiled meat and small pieces of dough) and various other horse delicacies (zhal, zhaya). The traditional drinks are sheep milk and its products (kaimak (sour cream), katyk, kurt, irimshik (cottage cheese or cheese)); fermented mare’s milk (kumys); and camel’s milk (shubat). The introduction of flour to Kazakh cuisine brought about dishes such as bauyrsaq, kuimak, kattama and oima – flat puff cakes fried in oil then covered in cream.
