MEALTIME CUSTOMS.

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 487.

Hospitality is an important part of Kazakh culture. Our people welcome their guests to try their food and to enjoy our generosity. It is common in our traditions to invite guests to our houses, to treat them to our best cuisine and, generally, to treat each other with genuine respect and appreciation. The host will be quite offended if the guest does not have some refreshment offered him or at least a cup of traditional tea. Refreshments might include dried and fresh fruits (grapes or melon), nuts, cakes, or baursaks (a type of bread). They also may be offered some fermented kymyz (milk from a horse) to drink. Tea and kymyz are served in a piala (an Asian teacup) or a wooden bowl. A guest is usually offered a place of honor at the table. Diners wash their hands before a meal. A prayer is said and a guest is served first. Eating is usually done with the right hand, or a knife and fork. Tea is usually served after dinner. Once adults have eaten, children eat the leftovers.

A unique custom in Kazakhstan is the dastarkhan, a feast for visiting guests and special occasions that includes meat dishes and dairy products. Appetizers (закуска) may be smoked or boiled meat, zhuta (pasta stuffed with pumpkin or carrot), and flat cakes. Vegetables, sorpa (rich broth (бульон), and shubat (a milk drink) may be offered next. For the feast, an entire animal, usually a sheep is slaughtered (резать) and the oldest member of the family carves (нарезать) the head and serves the family. This is considered an honor in Kazakhstan. Besbarmak is the animal's meat, boiled, and served on a platter (большое плоское блюдо) with dough that has been boiled in broth. Different parts of the animal symbolize traits desired by those eating them. For example, children are often served the ears as a symbol to listen better. The person who receives the eye should seek wisdom, and a tongue means that a person should be more expressive.