Culture and national cuisine of Kazakh people

Kazakh food preparation began to develop in the XIIIth century. Kazakh culture is largely influenced by a Turkic nomadiclifestyle and Islam. Kazakhs are typically Sunni Muslims.

Before the Russian conquest, the Kazaks had a well-articulated culture based on their nomadicpastoral economy. Although Islamwas introduced to most of the Kazaks in the seventh and eighth centuries, the religion was not fully assimilated until several centuries later. As a result, it coexisted with earlier elements of Tengriism. Traditional Kazak belief held that separate spirits inhabited and animated the earth, sky, water, and fire, as well as domestic animals. To this day, particularly honored guests in rural settings are treated to a feast of freshly killed lamb. Such guests are sometimes asked to bless the lamb and to ask its spirit for permission to partake of its flesh. Besides lamb, many other traditional foods retain symbolic value in Kazak culture.

Because animal husbandrywas central to the Kazaks` traditional lifestyle, most of their nomadic practices and customs relate in some way to livestock. Traditional curses and blessings invoked disease or fecundity among animals, and good manners required that a person ask first about the health of a man`s livestock when greeting him and only afterward inquire about the human aspects of his life.

The traditional Kazak dwelling is the yurt, a tent consisting of a flexible framework of willow wood covered with varying thicknesses of felt. The open top permits smoke from the central hearth to escape; temperature and draft can be controlled by a flap that increases or decreases the size of the opening. A properly constructed yurt can be cooled in summer and warmed in winter, and it can be disassembled or set up in less than an hour. The interior of the yurt has ritual significance; the right side generally is reserved for men and the left for women. Yurts are also frequently used as a decorative motif in restaurants and other public buildings.

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