Ethnographers revive ancient recipes of Kazakh cuisine

Old recipes of national dishes and original methods of their preparation are being revived in Karagandy. The regional museum of history has launched an online project "Atadan kalgan adal as". Now every month local culinary experts present Kazakh delicacies.

Zhauzhurek is a symbol of maternal care. In the old days, it was believed that this dish gives men courage. On the modern table, this is a great hot appetizer that has a healing effect. Lamb liver contributes to the prevention of myocardial infarction.

“At first glance, you might think that the dish is very fatty. But this is not true. Mothers prepared this dish for their sons when they went on a long trip. The dish gave a lot of strength, it is full of vitamins,” said Arailym Sadu, a museum guide.

Museum staff say there are over 200 lost Kazakh recipes. Currently, ethnographers are working to restore them.

“We took forgotten recipes from the book "Kazakh dishes: traditions and taste", written by a famous researcher Aigerim Musagazhinova. To revive the recipes of national dishes, she sent expeditions to different regions of Kazakhstan, met with centenarians and wrote down the methods of their preparation firsthand,” said Narsha Ersinkyzy, a museum guide.

The project is designed for a year. During this time, it is planned to recreate about 50 forgotten dishes, record the methods of their preparation on video and present them to visitors.