From the earliest times Kyrgyz cuisine has been based on meat and dairy products. The nomadic way of life, cattle and horse breeding, brought with it a ready availability of meat at all times. As for vegetal produce, barley, wheat and millet were the staple food.

Let's imagine a nomadic yurt camp. A fire is burning, communal food is prepared in a large pot, ingredients are cooked together, water fresh from the source serves as the main cooking element, a hearty soup, the SHORPO, the base recipe.

The very ingredients are prepared during the sedentary phase of the nomad, when he is settled on the pasture to allow his animals to feed in abundance before heading literally for greener pastures. Food items are prepared in such a way that they can be stored easily, will not perish and most of all, will not take a lot of space on the journey.

Meat is thus dried, taking up a smaller volume. Once the meat is boiled in water, the tough strips become soft and succulent. Another way of preserving meat is making sausages. Horsemeat, very tasty, is preferred and horsemeat specialties such as KARTA or KARYN are a must to celebrate special occasions. CHUCHUK is a made from calf meat and also very popular on festive occasions. KUYRUK boor is made from thinly sliced liver. A priced specialty is BESHBARMAK, finely cut poached mutton mixed with homemade noodles served separately with broth. BOORSOCKI chunks of dough fried in animal fat or vegetable oil are very popular.

With meat comes fat, for the taste, for the lasting energy it delivers, for the long journey to the next yurt camp.

There is a whole range of dairy products, starting with pure boiled milk, AYRAN, fermented cow milk, very refreshing and ideal to cool the body on a hot day. The famed KOUMISS, the horse milk fermented by a special leaven is unique to this part of the world and should not be missed out on.

Cheese is dried into hard lumps and is close to parmigiano cheese in taste.
Freshly curded butter is a great luxury, butter is generally baked and thus kept for storage.

Cereals are indispensable. They deliver long lasting energy, precious minerals and vitamins. They are boiled in the soup or their flour is baked into flat bread in the tandir oven shaped into stuffed, fried dumplings from the kazan (big round cauldron).

The fermenting virtues of cereal doesn't go unused. JARMA is a drink made from millet, which is first boiled and then fried in fat. MAKSIM is prepared on the same basis, with the addition of milk. BOZO is a light alcoholic drink made from sprouted wheat and millet.

With Kyrgyzstan laying rought their culinary preferences, on the crossroads of branches of The Great Silk Road, culinary influences from its neighboring countries are all apparent. Uzbeks, the Uygurs, Dungans, Tadjiks and Russians, with influences stretching as far as Iran, Turkey, the Arabian Peninsula and Europe, all have brought their culinary preferences.

Last but not least, Tea is the core ingredient of hospitality, served jointly with dried fruits, nuts and boorsocki. Black, strong, adding milk, cream, fried flour, salt or sugar and served at the beginning and end of every meal, tea unities everyone.