Kyrgyz food shows the effect of its location and history; befitting a nation descended from nomadic herdspeople,
Things to know: Restaurants in the capital tend to stop serving at 2200.
National specialties:
• Mutton is the staple meat, enlivened with Chinese influences.
• Shashlyk (skewered chunks of mutton barbecued over charcoal) and
lipioshka (round unleavened bread) are often sold on street corners.
•
Plov, rice fried with shredded turnip and scraps of mutton, served with bread, is a Central Asian staple.
•
Laghman is a noodle soup
with mutton and vegetables that was originally imported from Chinese Turkestan.
•
Beshbarmak is noodles with shredded, boiled meat in bouillon. Around Lake Issyk-Kul, the noodles are sometimes served with jellied potato starch rather than meat.
National drinks:
• Black or green tea is the most popular drink.
•
Koumys (fermented mares’ milk) is mildly alcoholic and can still be found in the countryside; refusing an offer of
koumys may cause offence.
•
Dzarma (fermented barley flour).
•
Boso (fermented millet, resembling beer).
• Beer, vodka and local brandy are all widely available in restaurants.
Tipping: This is becoming more customary, especially in international hotels.
NightlifeThere are
performances of both Russian and European
operas and
ballets in the State Opera House in Bishkek. Local
music and
theater has enjoyed a strong revival since independence and excerpts from the
Manas, the Kyrgyz national epic about the eponymous warrior that runs to some 500,000 lines, play to packed houses. The
Manas was originally handed down orally, but was written down in the early part of the 19th century.
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