Traditional Food of Kyrgyzstan

Meals during an IBEX Tour to Kyrgyzstan

On this tour to Kyrgyzstan, you will experience a combination of western and local cuisines. Meals include breakfast, lunch and dinner. While breakfast and lunch are usually served in traditional European style, dinner provides an opportunity to sample local dishes.

Traditional Kyrgyz cuisine reflects the lifestyle of nomadic people and consists mainly of meat, dairy products and bread. In addition, modern Kyrgyz cuisine includes dishes common throughout Central Asia, and is heavily influenced by the cuisine of the settled people of the region: Russians, Uzbeks, Uighurs and Chinese. In Kyrgyz culture, special dishes are quite often associated with particular events and religious holidays and are presented with a ceremony given the occasion. One of the most quintessential Kyrgyz dishes is Beshbarmak, or eaten with “five-fingers”. Beshbarmak is handmade pasta with elaborately cooked lamb that is served as part of a sophisticated ceremony.

Kyrgyz dairy products are made of sour curdled milk with a distinct flavor. You will have an opportunity to taste kumis (koumiss), a drink brewed from fermented horse milk and believed to have strong health-promoting properties. Kurut, small balls of cheese, made from sheep milk, are very rich in protein and are extremely popular, especially in rural areas. As in all of Central Asia, bread is central to every meal and demands the highest respect. Traditional Kyrgyz homemade nan, unleavened flat bread in round loaves, is also known under the generic Russian name lepyoshka.

Known for their genuine hospitality, the Kyrgyzs traditionally serve food on a dostorkon (dastarkhan), a large cloth laid out on the ground. Nowadays, a dostorkon can also be set up on a low height Central Asia style table or just on a standard table.