I love Cook

Home
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan Photos
Hobbies
Class Websites
About me
My Essays

 

 

 

Turkmen Pilow

    

    The most popular food in Turkmenistan and in the whole of Central Asia. If you will visit Central Asia every family would serve Pilow. The Pilow is the symbol which shows kindness and how they respect you as a guest. In the Central Asian literature Pilow has a big place. You can find lyrics and poems about it.

     The Turkmen Pilow is main food in a Turkmen Wedding Ceremonies. The second day of the ceremony groom brings his bride to fathers house. Then father of a groom gives a Pilow to guests, which means that he is very happy and the bride brought prosperity to his family.

    The Turkmen Pilow usually serves with yogurt or yogurt drink (gatyk,ayran) and a salad. It includes a little bit more a cotton oil, so after a pillow drink a Turkmen tea.

    There are a lot of kinds of Pilow: 

            1. Traditional Pilow: ingredients are - a meat, a carrot , a rice , a cotton oil      
                and a salt.

            2. Chicken Pilow: there chicken instead of meat. (Juyjeli Pilow)

            3. Fiancée Pilow: this kind of pilow usually serves in Fiancée parties. 
                Ingredients are a chicken or meat, a carrot, a black pepper, an apricot and 
                grapes.

            4. Simple Pilow: There is no meat or chicken, only a carrot and a rice.     

 

 

Turkmen Bread

059.jpg (6095 bytes)      The Turkmen Bread has a big place in Central Asian culture. The bread is not a simply a food which made from a wheat. The Turkmen Bread is a symbol of luck , happiness and disrespect it is a seen. For example, if warrior goes to a war his father gives him a sword and horse, his mother gives him a bread. That means the bread would feed him and would bring him a luck, and survive from enemies in the war.

      Mothers put a piece of a bread under a pillow of a baby.  They think that piece of a bread will protect a baby from the  devil and bad spirits.          120.jpg (7616 bytes)                

    Every Turkmen family had a tandoor. A tandoor is - a kind of oven where you can bake a Turkmen bread. (Picture 1 shows in side of a tandoor.) That was unusual for USSR administration and it hurt them a lot. USSR government had a lot of bakeries, but Turkmen people didn't buy any bread so every bakery had a problem. However solve this problem so easy for the administration, "destroy every tandoor". I remember when I was child probably 15 years ago, my mother was baking a bread, which I liked as a every child eat when it was hot, some woman came to close and ordered destroy it immediately after baking. My mother surprised because it was hidden in our backyard. After that my father relocated it to another side of our garden. I was child and didn't understand why they forcing us eat a bad bread which smells. After independents it is OK having a tandoor and it doesn't matter where are you live in a city or a village.  

        1. Etli Nan (Meat Bread): It is bread with meat.

        2. Soganli Nan (Onion Bread) : It is bread with onion.

        3. Yagli Nan (Fat Bread) : There are in the bread some pieces of fat.

 

Turkmen Ishlekly

  ???????

      The Ishlekly consists a meat, an onion and a dough. Wide a dough and put a meat and onions (you can also put some spices), then put another dough to this. It will look like two pizzas that put face to face. After that put the Ishlekly to hot sand. Before you should burn a lot of woods on the sand to make it hot enough.

      Usually it is a Shepard's food, because to make it you need a sand. In a traditional way the Ishlekly takes the whole of sheep. It is a very good food. You cannot guess a taste without tasting it. It is wonderful.    

 

      Tea 

    In Central Asia the most of people prefer drink a green tea. A tea has a big place in a life style of people. Almost every age group drinks a tea. If you will go to Central Asia before the lunch or dinner you will get a tea, and after food you will get a tea too. If they want invite someone to the party or for dinner they would say: "Come for a tea tonight." (Note: You can't invite to date someone saying that.)