I ate the food of the Kyrgyz Republic

Recently, I was invited to a lovely party at the Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic to the USA and Canada, right across the line from Maryland in Washington, DC. I was able to sample their native food and learn about their culture through a buffet, live music, representatives from the Embassy and graduate student presentations. It whetted my appetite to learn more and taste more! I’m sure if I ever had the opportunity to visit, I’d come back with a ton of articles.

The country has an exotic locale, being a former republic to the former USSR and with China as its eastern neighbor. The citizens are beautiful and graceful. The food is closer to the Russian restaurants that I have been to in Baltimore than Afghan restaurants in Baltimore and it definitely was not like Chinese food. I was familiar with the tasty Salad Olivier, which has bits of dill, peas, diced potatoes, ham and mayonnaise. I was surprised to see it, as the republic has a majority Muslim population — I thought that the menu would be Halal. I would say that they do incorporate more lamb into dishes than traditional Russian cuisine. The seasoning was pleasing and not overly spicy. I learned that Kyrgyz cuisine is traditionally focused on long preservation of food and also, lots of incorporation of mutton.

Here is the menu from the evening. I was not able to locate the mare’s milk or other exotic beverages . . . I swear I would have at least tried them if I had!

Manti
— Spiced meat mixture in a dough wrapper

Beshbarmak
— Diced boiled meat mixed with boiled noodles

Samsy (samosa)
— Stuffed pastry shell with savory filling

Funchoza
— Transparent noodle made from starch and water

Salad Olivier
— Diced potatoes, vegetables and meats bound in mayonnaise

Green Salad
– Leafy vegetables

Canapé Hors d’oeuvres
— with eggplant, Chuchuk (sujuk) (dry spicy sausage),
caviar, and borsok (national bread)

Drinks
Red and White WIne
Kyrgyz drinks: “Shoro” and “Bozo”
(Exotic drink made of water, fried grains, corn and flour)
Kumis
(Fermented dairy product made from mare’s milk)
Apple and orange juice

Desserts

Chak-chak (çäkçäk)
— Deep-fried dough balls

“Hvorost” cookies
— Delightful cookies from Kyrgyzstan

— Assorted candy

Fruits
— A Variety of apples, grapes, bananas, mandarins