Food in Daily Life. Common dishes include: lagman (hand-rolled noodles in a broth of meat and vegetables), manti (dumplings filled with either onion and meat, or pumpkin), plov (rice fried with carrots and topped with meat), pelmeni, (a Russian dish of small meat-filled dumplings in broth), ashlam-foo (cold noodles topped with vegetables in spicy broth and pieces of congealed corn starch), samsa (meat or pumpkin-filled pastries), and fried meat and potatoes. Most meat is mutton, although beef, chicken, turkey, and goat are also eaten. Kyrgyz people don’t eat pork, but Russians do. Fish is either canned or dried. Lagman and manti are the everyday foods of the north, while plov is the staple of the south.
Most people eat four or five times a day, but only one large meal. The rest are small, mostly consisting of tea, bread, snacks, and condiments. These include vareynya (jam), kaimak, (similar to clotted cream), sara-mai (a form of butter), and various salads.
Kyrgyz cafes, chaikanas, and ashkanas usually will have six or seven dishes, as well as two or three side dishes, on the menu. Many places also will serve shashlik, which is marinated mutton grilled on a skewer. It is common for only a few of the menu items to be available on any given day. Drink options are limited to tea, soda, and mineral water. Patrons are expected to order as a group and all eat the same entree. Ristoran (restaurants) usually have more varied European and Russian dishes.
Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions. During holidays and personal celebrations, a sheep is killed and cooked. In the north, the main course is beshbarmak, which is accompanied by elaborate preparations. The sheep is slaughtered by slitting its throat, and the blood is drained onto the ground. Then the carcass is skinned and butchered, and the organ meats are prepared. The intestines are cleaned and braided. The first course is shorpo, a soup created from boiling the meat and organs, usually with vegetables and pieces of chopped fat. The roasted sheep’s head is then served and distributed among the honored guests. The fat, liver, other organs, and the majority of the meat are divided equally and served to the guests, with the expectation that they will take this home. Guests receive a cut of meat that corresponds to their status. The remaining meat goes into the besh-barmak. It is shredded into small pieces and mixed with noodles and a little broth, which is served in a communal bowl and eaten with the hands.
In the south, the main course is most often plov. The sheep is killed and prepared in the same manner as in the north. Shorpo also is served, and the meat, fat, and organ meats are shared and taken home in the same way; however, it is rare for the head to be eaten. Plov is served in large platters shared by two or three people, and often is eaten with the hands.
For a funeral and sometimes a marriage, a horse will be killed instead of a sheep. The intestines are then used to make sausage.
In the summer a traditional drink called kumyss is available. This is made of fermented mare’s milk, and is drunk at celebrations when it is in season. Multiple shots of vodka are mandatory at all celebrations.