Turkmen cuisine facts for kids
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Turkmen cuisine is the traditional food of Turkmenistan. It is much like the food found in other parts of Central Asia. Long ago, Turkmen people were nomads. They moved around with their animals, especially sheep. Because of this, Turkmen food uses a lot of meat, like lamb and mutton.
Turkmen food usually does not have many spices. People mostly use salt and black pepper. They often cook with a lot of cottonseed oil. At food festivals, you can find many dishes. These include different soups, meat and fish dishes, and tasty pies. Some popular foods are ichlekli (meat pies) and gutaps (pies with fillings like pumpkin or spinach). You might also see pilaf, roasted lamb, and sweets.
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Meat Dishes
Shashlyk (called çişlik in Turkmen) is a very popular dish. It features chunks of meat grilled on skewers over charcoal. The meat can be lamb, chicken, or sometimes fish. It is often served with sliced onion and a special sauce. You can find shashlyk in restaurants and sold on the street.
Kakmach (kakmaç) is dried meat, like jerky. It can be fried or baked. Traditionally, it is dried in the hot desert sun. Gowurma is meat fried in small pieces. It is cooked in a large iron pot called a gazan. Gowurma can be eaten hot or cold. It is also used in different soups.
Dumplings and Pies
You can find many kinds of filled pies and dumplings in Turkmenistan. Manty are steamed dumplings. They are filled with ground meat, onions, or pumpkin.
Other popular fried dishes include somsa and gutap. Gutap is often filled with spinach. Fitchi (fitçi), börek, and ichlekli (içlekli) are also common. These foods are great for people on the go. They are often sold at roadside stands.
Fruits
Melons
Turkmenistan is very famous for its melons (gawun). It used to be the main supplier of melons for the former Soviet Union. People in Turkmenistan are very proud of their melons. They even have a special holiday called Melon Day. Turkmen sources say there are up to 400 different types of melons in the country.
Pomegranate
People living in oases use pomegranate (nar) for flavor. They often crush it to make juice. This juice is then added to or mixed into dishes.
Pumpkin
Pumpkins (kädi) are mostly used to flavor soups. Sometimes, hollowed-out pumpkins are used to bake casseroles or meats. The seeds of pumpkins are crushed to make cooking oil.
Tomato
Tomatoes came from the New World but are now very important in Turkmen cooking. They are pickled, dried, or chopped for dishes. Tomatoes are also used to make tomato soup and juice.
Dishes with Grains
Breads
Meals in Turkmenistan almost always include çörek, which is a type of flatbread. Turkmen bread is thick and round. It is baked in a traditional clay oven called a tamdyr.
Etli çörek means "meat bread." It has meat baked inside and can be a meal by itself. Ýagly çörek is a flaky, layered flatbread made with butter. Pishme (pişme) are soft, sweet, fried breads. They are traditionally given to guests as a welcome.
Bread is very important in Turkmen culture. It is considered rude to turn a loaf of bread upside down. There are many beliefs about bread and how it is made. It is a symbol of welcome, family, and good wishes. The tamdyr oven, where bread is baked, is also very special. It represents life and the family home.
Pilaf
Pilaf (palaw or plov) is a special dish. It is served at celebrations and for honored guests. Some people call it the "king of Turkmen cuisine." It is made with rice cooked with chunks of mutton, carrots, onions, and garlic. It is usually prepared in a large cast-iron pot. Some recipes add raisins, fruits, fish, or ground meat. People traditionally eat pilaf with their hands.
Porridges
Yarma (ýarma) is cracked wheat cooked in sheep fat. It has small pieces of mutton for flavor. This dish is believed to be very old, over a thousand years. Shule (şüle) is a watery rice porridge with meat. It is sometimes served with shredded carrots. Sorghum porridge (etli köje) is a traditional dish for the Novruz festival. Sorghum came to Turkmenistan through trade on the Silk Road.
Casseroles
Chegdermeh (çegderme) is a mix of boiled rice, fried meat, tomato, and sautéed onions. It is typically cooked in a large pot.
Soups
Shurpa (şurpa), which is meat broth, is the base for most Turkmen soups. The most traditional soups are different types of unash (unaş). These are made with milk and noodles, or with beans and noodles.
Other common soups include dograma. This soup is made with diced organ meats, bread, onion, and tomato. There is also dumpling soup (etli börek şurpasy) and mung bean soup (şurpa maş). Suytlash (süýtlaş) is a vermicelli pudding. It is often served as a second course at wedding feasts. Some versions use rice instead of vermicelli.
Drawing from nearby cultures, lagman is also common. It is a soupy noodle dish that comes from the Uyghur culture.
Drinks
Like in other parts of Central Asia, green tea (çaý) is the main drink. People drink it all day long. In the Turkmen language, çaý can mean a meal, like breakfast, or simply sitting down for a visit over tea. In the Dashoguz region, some people drink it "Kazakh-style" with milk. This helps to hide the salty taste of the local water.
Gatyk is a thick drinking yogurt, similar to kefir. It is often served with breakfast. Sometimes, it is used as a topping for börek or manty, instead of sour cream.
The most famous drink of Turkmenistan is çal ("chal"). This is fermented camel's milk. It is a white, fizzy drink with a sour taste. Chal is popular in Central Asia, especially in Turkmenistan. It is hard to export chal because it needs special preparation and spoils very quickly.
Fish Dishes
Fish is a traditional food for Turkmen tribes living near the Caspian Sea and along the Amu Darya river. Recipes from the Caspian Turkmen people involve grilling and frying fish. They often serve it with sesame, rice, apricots, raisins, and pomegranate juice.
Food from Other Countries
Restaurants in Turkmenistan often serve Russian dishes. These include pelmeni (dumplings), buckwheat (grechka), golubtsy (cabbage rolls), and many salads made with mayonnaise.
Potatoes and tomatoes, which came from the New World, are widely used in cooking. In Ashgabat, the capital city, you can now find modern steakhouses.
See also
