KZBlog

Registan’s very own Joshua Foust has a fun article up on Need to Know by PBS about the joys of Kazakh food.

There’s also what looks like a pretty good recipe for lamb and pumpkin manty, my favorite. Never had horse manty and I don’t agree with using lean meat. Manty should have a bit of fat in them to be truly Kazakh, and truly good.

It is nice to hear people standing up for Kazakh food, although Kazakhstan is a multi-ethnic country that therefore has a multi-ethnic kitchen. Genuine authentic Kazakh food is meat. Just meat. And dairy products. The ancient Kazakhs were nomads after all.

Kazakhstany food is quite good and most of it is not as exotic as you might think. Plov is rice pilaf, and much like stir-fry. Manty is steamed dumplings. Beshbarmak is meat and noodles. Kurdak is compared to haggis for its contents, but it’s much like a stew (except without a lot of broth).