Cuisine of Turkmenistan
Encyclopedia
Turkmen cuisine, the cuisine
of Turkmenistan
, is similar to that of the rest of Central Asia
. Plov is the staple, everyday food, which is also served at celebrations. It consists of chunks of mutton, carrot
s and rice
fried in a large cast-iron cauldron similar to a Dutch oven
. Manty are dumplings filled with ground meat and onions or pumpkin. Shurpa is a meat and vegetable soup. A wide variety of filled pies and fried dumplings are available in restaurants and bazaar
s, including somsas, gutap (often filled with spinach) and ishlykly. These are popular with travelers and taxi drivers, as they can be eaten quickly on the run, and are often sold at roadside stands. Turkmen cuisine does not generally use spices or seasonings, and is cooked with large amounts of cottonseed oil
for flavor.
Shashlyk, skewered chunks of mutton, pork
, chicken
, or sometimes fish
, grilled over charcoal
and garnished with raw sliced onion
and a special vinegar
-based sauce, is served in restaurants and often sold in the street. Restaurants in Turkmenistan serve mainly Russian
fare such as pelmeni
, buckwheat
(grechka), golubtsy
, and a wide variety of mayonnaise-based salads
. Lagman
, an Uyghur
noodle dish, can also be found in some areas.
s, especially in the former Soviet Union
, where it was once the major supplier. Though very few melons are exported today, they are a great source of national pride in Turkmenistan and subject of their own Melon Day
holiday. Turkmen sources claim the country is home to up to 400 hundred distinct varieties.
, Central Asian flat bread, known locally as "çörek." Turkmen bread is prepared slightly differently from other breads in the region in thick, round disc-shaped loaves baked in a traditional tamdyr
clay oven. Bread has a high symbolic importance in Turkmen culture
, and it is considered highly impolite to turn a loaf of bread upside down or to mistreat bread in any way. There are many superstitions based around bread and its preparation. Bread baked with meat inside ("etli çörek," or "meat bread") can be consumed as a meal in itself. "Ýagly çörek" (literally "oily bread") is a flaky, layered type of flat bread made with butter.
, green tea
is the primary drink, consumed at all hours. In the Turkmen language
, "chai" (tea) can refer to eating a meal or sitting down for a visit. In the Dashoguz region it is sometimes drunk "Kazakh
style" with milk, often to disguise the salty taste of the drinking water in that area.
Gatyk, a thick drinking yogurt similar to Kefir
, is often served with breakfast
and sometimes used as a condiment on börek or manty in lieu of the traditional sour cream
. The drink the nation is known for, however, is chal
, a fermented
camel
's milk
, which is a white sparkling beverage that has a sour flavour and is popular in Central Asia
, particularly in Turkmenistan
. Because of specific preparation requirements and its being extremely perishable, chal presents a great challenge for importers to ship outside Turkmenistan or the region for foreign consumption. It is similar to the Kyrgyz drink shoro. One source notes that Turkmen like to get agaran (a type of butter
) from the surface of chal.
Travelers have the following description of the cooling effect and preparation of the chal: "Where Turkmen cuisine positively shines is in its dairy foods, from both cows
and camels. I tasted the famous chal, fermented camel's milk, and it proved wonderfully cooling in the intense heat. To make chal, the cream is skimmed off the milk, and the milk is thinned with water and left to ferment slightly. (That skimmed-off cream, when it too is fermented slightly, becomes agaran, a rich, thick and extremely nourishing treat.)"
is the most popular alcoholic beverage, due to its low cost, followed by beer
, wine
, brandy
, and sparkling wine
(Russian: шампанское / shampanskoye).
Cuisine
Cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, often associated with a specific culture. Cuisines are often named after the geographic areas or regions that they originate from...
of Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
, is similar to that of the rest of Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
. Plov is the staple, everyday food, which is also served at celebrations. It consists of chunks of mutton, carrot
Carrot
The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour, though purple, red, white, and yellow varieties exist. It has a crisp texture when fresh...
s and rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
fried in a large cast-iron cauldron similar to a Dutch oven
Dutch oven
A Dutch oven is a thick-walled cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. Dutch ovens have been used as cooking vessels for hundreds of years....
. Manty are dumplings filled with ground meat and onions or pumpkin. Shurpa is a meat and vegetable soup. A wide variety of filled pies and fried dumplings are available in restaurants and bazaar
Bazaar
A bazaar , Cypriot Greek: pantopoula) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work that area...
s, including somsas, gutap (often filled with spinach) and ishlykly. These are popular with travelers and taxi drivers, as they can be eaten quickly on the run, and are often sold at roadside stands. Turkmen cuisine does not generally use spices or seasonings, and is cooked with large amounts of cottonseed oil
Cottonseed oil
Cottonseed oil is a cooking oil extracted from the seeds of cotton plant of various species, mainly Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium herbaceum...
for flavor.
Shashlyk, skewered chunks of mutton, pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
, chicken
Chicken (food)
Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world, and is prepared as food in a wide variety of ways, varying by region and culture.- History :...
, or sometimes fish
Fish (food)
Fish is a food consumed by many species, including humans. The word "fish" refers to both the animal and to the food prepared from it. Fish has been an important source of protein for humans throughout recorded history.-Terminology:...
, grilled over charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
and garnished with raw sliced onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
and a special vinegar
Vinegar
Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...
-based sauce, is served in restaurants and often sold in the street. Restaurants in Turkmenistan serve mainly Russian
Russian cuisine
Russian cuisine is diverse, as Russia is the largest country in the world. Russian cuisine derives its varied character from the vast and multi-cultural expanse of Russia. Its foundations were laid by the peasant food of the rural population in an often harsh climate, with a combination of...
fare such as pelmeni
Pelmeni
Pelmeni are dumplings consisting of a filling wrapped in thin, unleavened dough that originated in Siberia and is a dish of Russian cuisine. Pelmeni are common in Russia and have similar names in other languages: , pyal’meni; pilmän; , pel’meni; ; .- Ingredients :The dough is made from flour and...
, buckwheat
Buckwheat
Buckwheat refers to a variety of plants in the dicot family Polygonaceae: the Eurasian genus Fagopyrum, the North American genus Eriogonum, and the Northern Hemisphere genus Fallopia. Either of the latter two may be referred to as "wild buckwheat"...
(grechka), golubtsy
Cabbage roll
A cabbage roll is a dish consisting of cooked cabbage leaves wrapped around a variety of fillings. It is common to the ethnic cuisines of England, and has also found popularity in areas of North America settled by English Settlers....
, and a wide variety of mayonnaise-based salads
Russian salad
Salade Olivier is a salad composed of diced potatoes, vegetables and meats bound in mayonnaise. The salad is usually called Russian salad in Western European and Latin American countries, and Salad Olivieh in Iranian cooking.-History:...
. Lagman
Lamian
Lamian is a type of hand-made or hand-pulled Chinese noodle. It is also the name of the dishes that use these noodles.-Etymology and preparation:...
, an Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
noodle dish, can also be found in some areas.
Melons
In the culinary arena, Turkmenistan is perhaps most famous for its melonMelon
thumb|200px|Various types of melonsThis list of melons includes members of the plant family Cucurbitaceae with edible, fleshy fruit e.g. gourds or cucurbits. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit...
s, especially in the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, where it was once the major supplier. Though very few melons are exported today, they are a great source of national pride in Turkmenistan and subject of their own Melon Day
Melon Day
Melon Day is an annual national holiday in Turkmenistan devoted to festivities to celebrate the country's muskmelon, in particular a recent crossbreed product named "Turkmenbashi melon" , which is praised for its aroma, taste and large size.This holiday was established by Turkmenistan’s previous...
holiday. Turkmen sources claim the country is home to up to 400 hundred distinct varieties.
Bread
Meals are almost always served with NaanNaan
Naan is a leavened, oven-baked flatbread. It is typical of and popular in South and Central Asia, in Iran, and in South Asian restaurants abroad. Influenced by the large influx of South Asian labour, naan has also become popular in Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states.Originally, naan is a...
, Central Asian flat bread, known locally as "çörek." Turkmen bread is prepared slightly differently from other breads in the region in thick, round disc-shaped loaves baked in a traditional tamdyr
Tandoor
A tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. The tandoor is used for cooking in Azerbaijan, India, Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central Asia, as well as Burma and Bangladesh.The heat for a tandoor was...
clay oven. Bread has a high symbolic importance in Turkmen culture
Culture of Turkmenistan
thumb|right|250px|A Yomut Turkmen in a traditional attire, early XX century.The Turkmen people have traditionally been nomads and horsemen, and even today after the fall of the USSR attempts to urbanize the Turkmens have not been very successful. They never really formed a coherent nation or ethnic...
, and it is considered highly impolite to turn a loaf of bread upside down or to mistreat bread in any way. There are many superstitions based around bread and its preparation. Bread baked with meat inside ("etli çörek," or "meat bread") can be consumed as a meal in itself. "Ýagly çörek" (literally "oily bread") is a flaky, layered type of flat bread made with butter.
Beverages
As in the rest of Central AsiaCentral Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, green tea
Green tea
Green tea is made solely from the leaves of Camellia sinensis that have undergone minimal oxidation during processing. Green tea originates from China and has become associated with many cultures throughout Asia. It has recently become more widespread in the West, where black tea is traditionally...
is the primary drink, consumed at all hours. In the Turkmen language
Turkmen language
Turkmen is the national language of Turkmenistan...
, "chai" (tea) can refer to eating a meal or sitting down for a visit. In the Dashoguz region it is sometimes drunk "Kazakh
Kazakh cuisine
Kazakh cuisine is the cuisine of Kazakhstan. Traditional Kazakh cuisine revolves around mutton and horse meat and as well as various milk products. For hundreds of years Kazakhs were herders who raised fat-tailed sheep, Bactrian camels, and horses, relying on these animals for transportation,...
style" with milk, often to disguise the salty taste of the drinking water in that area.
Gatyk, a thick drinking yogurt similar to Kefir
Kefir
Kefir is a fermented milk drink that originated with shepherds of the North Caucasus region, who discovered that fresh milk carried in leather pouches would occasionally ferment into an effervescent beverage...
, is often served with breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast is the first meal taken after rising from a night's sleep, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the day's work...
and sometimes used as a condiment on börek or manty in lieu of the traditional sour cream
Sour cream
Sour cream is a dairy product rich in fats obtained by fermenting a regular cream by certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, which is introduced either deliberately or naturally, sours and thickens the cream. Its name stems from the production of lactic acid by bacterial...
. The drink the nation is known for, however, is chal
Chal
Chal, or shubat , is a Turkic beverage of fermented camel milk, sparkling white with a sour flavor, popular in Central Asia — particularly in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. In Kazakhstan the drink is known as shubat, and is a staple summer food. Due to preparation requirements and perishable...
, a fermented
Fermentation (food)
Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...
camel
Camel
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
's milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
, which is a white sparkling beverage that has a sour flavour and is popular in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, particularly in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
. Because of specific preparation requirements and its being extremely perishable, chal presents a great challenge for importers to ship outside Turkmenistan or the region for foreign consumption. It is similar to the Kyrgyz drink shoro. One source notes that Turkmen like to get agaran (a type of butter
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
) from the surface of chal.
Travelers have the following description of the cooling effect and preparation of the chal: "Where Turkmen cuisine positively shines is in its dairy foods, from both cows
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
and camels. I tasted the famous chal, fermented camel's milk, and it proved wonderfully cooling in the intense heat. To make chal, the cream is skimmed off the milk, and the milk is thinned with water and left to ferment slightly. (That skimmed-off cream, when it too is fermented slightly, becomes agaran, a rich, thick and extremely nourishing treat.)"
Alcoholic beverages
VodkaVodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
is the most popular alcoholic beverage, due to its low cost, followed by beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
, wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
, brandy
Brandy
Brandy is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink...
, and sparkling wine
Sparkling wine
Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it making it fizzy. The carbon dioxide may result from natural fermentation, either in a bottle, as with the méthode champenoise, in a large tank designed to withstand the pressures involved , or as a result of carbon dioxide...
(Russian: шампанское / shampanskoye).
External links
- Vopr Pitan. "Chemical composition of chal (fermented camel's milk)", 1954 Jul-Aug;13(4):41-2
- Martinenko, N.l., Yagodinskaya, S.G., Adhundov, A.A., Charyev, K.C. and Khumedov, O. (1977). Content of trace elements, copper, manganese, molybdenum in culture of chal and camel's milk and their cilnical significance. Dairy Sci. Abst., 40(7802), p. 824
- B. Faye and P. Esenov (eds.). Desertification Combat and Food Safety. The Added Value of Camel Producers. Volume 362 NATO Science Series: Life and Behavioural Sciences. OS Press Publication, February 2005, 240 pp., hardcover, ISBN 1-58603-473-1
- Filip Noubel, "GOLDEN CENTURY OF THE TURKMENS:" A BLEAK PICTURE OF VILLAGE LIFE IN THE DESERT. EurasiaNet photo essay, 2002-10-25
- Turkmen dining
- http://www.excite.es/viajes/guias/asia/turkmenistan/Conventiones_Sociales