Sunday, November 12, 2006
Hihi, it's me again.
My latest post wasn't clear enough. So I'm here to explain the post in summary.
The post is talking about the glorious cuisine of Kazakhstan, explanation about geographical location of Kazakhstan 1st then some dishes which look real yummy.
Then, i moved on to a response from an American in an article, found something interesting about the serving of the sheep's head. Finally, I relate it to this new comedy of Borat. The storyline of this new movie's, Borat, a Kazakh reporter who's on a trip to America to learn the culture of America to be brought back to his homeland.
Thanks for your feedbacks, at least I'm able to rectify my errors here.
Enjoy your night & I wish everyone here a good night, merry xmas & happy new year 2007 in advance!
Gargariser Declares
@ [10:45 PM]
Hihi! Here's me again. It's been a long time since I made my last post.
Food has been a major part of our lives and from this post, I would like to bring the joy of food to the life of this blog.
I'm crazy about Borat, so I'm deciding on a Kazakhstan taste now. A brief introduction to this less known country in this planet:
With an area of 2.7 million square kilometers (1.05 million sq. mi), Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest nation in the world. It is equivalent to the size of Western Europe. It shares borders of 6,846 kilometers (4,254 mi) with Russia, 2,203 kilometers (1,369 mi) with Uzbekistan, 1,533 kilometers (953 mi) with the People's Republic of China, 1,051 kilometers (653 mi) with Kyrgyzstan, and 379 kilometers (235 mi) with Turkmenistan. Major cities include Astana (capital since December 1997), Almaty (the former capital), Karaganda, Shymkent (Chimkent), Semey (Semipalatinsk) and Turkestan.
The terrain extends west to east from the Caspian Sea to the Altay Mountains and north to south from the plains of Western Siberia to the oasis and desert of Central Asia. The Kazakh Steppe, with an area of around 804,500 square kilometres (310,600 sq. mi), occupies one-third of the country and is the world's largest dry steppe region. The steppe is characterized by large areas of grasslands and sandy regions. Important rivers and lakes include: the Aral Sea, Ili River, Irtysh River, Ishim River, Ural River, Lake Balkhash, and Lake Zaysan
The climate is continental, with hot summers and colder winters. Precipitation varies between arid and semi-arid conditions.
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Kazakhstans have very peculiar cuisines. Here are some cuisines of theirs:
Pumpkin Samsa
Ingredients: 300 g wheat flour, 140 g water, 2 g salt, 400 g pumpkin, 80 g fat of sheep's tail, 100 g onion and 10 g ground pepper.
Cut pumpkin and fat into small cubes, add some chopped onion, salt and pepper, and mix everything. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at a temperature of 200-220 degrees Centigrade.
The pumpkin samsa can be served hot or cold.
Serves four.
Kazakhstan Salad
Ingredients: 96 g beef (shoulder) or 90 g mutton (ham or shoulder), 4 eggs, 20 g milk, 10 g butter or margarine, 60 g potato, 40 g pickled cucumber, 40 g carrot and 20 g canned peas.
Slice boiled meat, potatoes, carrots and cucumbers; sprinkle with salt and pepper; mix it all together and add 40 g sour cream. Serve on a plate, decorating with peas, slices of meat and greens or pickled vegetables.
Serves four
Fish a la Irtysh
Ingredients: 120 g fish (perch or sheat), 160 g potato, 100 g fresh or pickled cucumber, 60 g tomato, 4 boiled eggs and 80 g mayonnaise.
Fillet the fish and fry it lightly on both sides. Then cool and slice it. Chop cucumbers and potatoes and mix with fish and mayonnaise. Arrange the salad in a pyramid and decorate with slices offish, tomatoes and eggs.
Pour mayonnaise on top.
Serves four.
Kespe (Noodles) a la Kazakh
Ingredients: 130 g beef or mutton (brisket), 64 g vegetable oil, 120 g onion, 3 g garlic, 1 g ground red pepper, 240 g wheat flour, 6 eggs, 50 g water and 1 g salt.
Prepare thick dough and let it sit for 30 to 40 minutes. Roll out the dough into small sheets 1.5 mm thick, dry them a little, roll them up and slice them into thin strips (noodles). Cut meat into 23 mm cubes, fry in vegetable oil, add salt, pepper and bouillon and cook until done. Boil noodles, then serve them with meat, and sprinkle the mixture with greens.
Serves four.
Interesting? Here's a view from an American of Kazkhstan food:
SAY NEIGH TO THAT
By NADIA WHITE
The Casper Star-Tribune, Wyoming, January 1, 2003
Let me confess right up front: My vegetarian habits are on hold.
Take that one more step: I spent most of November eating horse meat, drinking mare's milk and marveling at the social niceties involved in serving baked sheep's head.
I am just back from Kazakhstan, where machismo is measured by how much meat one can eat and hospitality in how much a guest is fed. Suffice it to say, the Kazakhs are extraordinary hosts and I am eating more macho than I used to.
During a month in the Central Asian nation, numerous table-filling feasts were spread before me. A spyglass across time, they recall the days when a guest who arrived at a nomad's yurt would have traveled very, very far, across the steppe, with little in the way of clothing or fine food.
Often, I was given a velvety tunic or overcoat decorated with traditional swirled ram's horn designs in gold braid and beads and seated near the head of a long dining table.
Salads took the form of grated beets and carrots blended with light sour cream, walnuts and shaved horse meat.
Appetizers were thinly sliced horse meat sausage, sheep intestines and cheeses.
There were many other side dishes served, but the centerpiece of the meal was a huge platter or two of the national dish, besparmak.
Besparmak is huge chunks of horse meat, boiled on the bone and served with a broth on top of wide doughy noodles. The word means "five fingers" and it is still OK to just reach out and grab a chunk of meat and noodle and pop it into your mouth.
Horse meat tastes, well, like meat. I liked it. It was a little sweeter than lamb or beef, and had a very nice texture. It wasn't gristly or tough or stringing. But it was horse. I really don't know why we don't eat horses, but it is a little like eating dog. It's got a name and sometimes comes when you call it.
It made a big difference to me that some horses are raised to be eaten and some are raised to be ridden. I went to a feedlot and met some future dinner. I hate to say this: They were soooo cute.
A little cowlike, the eating horses were fat and fluffy from living outside and not running around much and they followed me around their corral as though I might be delivering them some food. They let me hug them.
Let's move on.
Occasionally, a feast was crowned with the arrival of a baked sheep's head, which was laid at my place, staring up at me. Fortunately, this item was not so much for eating as it was for serving. I learned to cut a symbolic little piece off, then pass the whole thing on to an honored person more familiar with tradition than I.
Here is how to serve a sheep's head:
-- Cut off an ear and give it to the youngest person so they listen to their elders and learn well.
-- Cut a piece from near the eye and give it to a person who is important to you so they will be attentive.
_ Cut a piece from the forehead and give it to someone with a challenge to help them be smart about it.
Gastronomically, I thought the shift from eating mostly vegetables to eating mostly meat would be tough on the gut. It wasn't. I attribute this to the addition of a great deal of cognac to my diet.
That, and the leisurely pace, aided digestion. Many a feast was topped off with a truly wonderful round of songs.
So I hope your New Year's celebration was tempered with song, honored with tradition and celebrated with new and old friends. Sally Ann will be back next week with more tales of the real food editor.
Nadia White is the state editor for the Star-Tribune
Yes indeed. That's what created the ingenious Borat with his jokes. Catch Borat on his new film,
Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
That's right! The bomb is on its way to hit ground zero of blockbusters!^^
For more information about Borat, watch him on youtube and be mesmerised by his comical skills^^
Publishing Credits to SR. Here's another 1-hour post ^^ This is just appetizer. More's coming up for a la carté & au danté fine dining cuisine in main course & dessert!
Encore:
How may I be of service to you monsieur/madamoisellé? In Kazakhstan, there's no Ba Chor Mee for your information.
This relation comes from a mrbrownshow - dedicated to those who are foreign to mrbrown's show.
Nudge me in msn if you're not satisfied with the post. I'll do my best to serve you with utmost diligence.
Gargariser Declares
@ [12:53 AM]
