A Little Etiquette
Let’s have a quick light-hearted look at Nomadic Culture and a few of the mealtime dos and don’ts.
Not quite a meal, but if you visit someone’s house, however briefly, you will often be offered a plate with some bread or borsook (see previous post) on NAAN. It is good manners to take and eat a small amount. Obviously if there are borsook this is easy, just pick one up and eat it. But what if it a tandyr nann is presented, or a few slices of bread? Simply just break a small amount off and eat this. Nomadic custom says you should always feed your guests and this tradition of offering a small piece of bread to visitors passing through satisfies this custom.
However if you are there to eat a full meal then more knowledge is required.
Firstly where around the table (?) should you sit? Just let the host guide you, they have already made the decision of who should sit where. The most honoured guests sit at the top of the table, and as your importance or status goes down so you sit further away from the top of the table. Often you will find the wife and children of the host family sitting at the lower end of the table.
Now to explain table (?). In yurts meals were often served on table-cloths laid on the floor with everybody sitting around the edges. Many yurts have low tables, but you will still be sitting on the floor. Feel free to wriggle around until you get comfortable. Before you panic at the thought of seizing-up sitting cross-legged on the floor, most yurts will also have small stools for those of us no longer as flexible as we used to be.
In many village homes you will find a similar situation. The only tall table will be in the kitchen and this is used for food preparation.
Sitting comfortably? More often than not the table will have plates of different salads, borsook and tandyr naan, jams, biscuits, fruits …. the options are endless. Where to start? The first thing you should eat is a borsook or a piece of tandyr naan. But take care. As you tear (do not cut) a piece of bread from the naan make sure you place it down the right way up. Naan, or any other bread, should never be placed upside-down.
Once you have found that you have over-eaten on bread and salad the hosts will bring out the main dish. Let’s have a quick look at the three main options.
Plov – probably the best known of all the Kyrgyz dishes. Carrots, onions and meat fried in a deep pan and then covered with rice that cooks slowly and absorbs all the juices and stock. Often garlic, chickpeas and raisins are added. Quite simply delicious. But do not take too much. With plov, and any other rice dish, you should not leave any grains of rice on your plate when you have finished eating. It is quite acceptable to ask for second and third helpings, and this will please the hostess immensely, but always finish the rice.
Beshbarmak translates as Five (besh) Fingers (barmak). This dish is made from boiling large joints of meat and, once cooked, the stock is used to boil noodles. The noodles are placed on a large dish, the meat, normally shredded, is placed on top and some of the stock is poured over. Frequently chopped-onions that have been slightly boiled in the stock are put on top. And why five fingers? In times gone by this dish was eaten without the use of cutlery, just with your fingers. If you wish to give it a try this way please make sure that you use your right hand.
Manti are stuffed dumplings that have been steamed. The fillings are various and are made from many things such as minced beef with onion or pumpkin with chive. Each household and restaurant has its own slight variation. Manti are frequently eaten by hand – it is easier. A note of caution. Manti can be quite juicy, so if you do eat them by hand beware. Just watch the locals, you will soon get the hang of it.
One final point of note. Kyrgyz cooking is not spicy hot. However most homes and restaurants will have some “laza”, a sauce made with chilli flakes, garlic, oil and maybe vinegar. Try a little at first, it can be very hot.
These are just a few Kyrgyz dishes. There are many more, some seasonal. Be adventurous, try them all. You will be pleasantly surprised.
Eet smakelijk, bon appétit, Guten Appetit, тамагыныз таттуу болсун (tamagynyz tattu bolsun).
