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Recent Blogs
Really, truly winter
So one thing I like to talk about living here is the true seasons. And right now we are in the midst of winter. It tempted us by getting warm a few days ago, then dumped about 5 inches of snow two days ago lol. Even when it warms up, it never gets above 50ish Read more about Really, truly winter[…]
Central Asian Food Series: Okroshka
(Oops, I thought I posted this a month ago lol 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️) Okroshka, is a Russian cold summer soup. Of course it got carried over as a popular dish in central asian dishes during the Soviet time. The funny thing is I know I have had this before but don’t distinctly remember when, probably in the Read more about Central Asian Food Series: Okroshka[…]
Same Same but Different
We went to a new Central Asian country last week- Uzbekistan! This is our 4th country in this region (including Kazakhstan). The above pic is the TV Tower in Tashkent, the capital (it is actually the 11th tallest tower in the world according to Wikipedia).This TV tower has a restaurant halfway up. (we didn’t go- Read more about Same Same but Different[…]
Central Asian Food Series: Kumis & Shubat
Okay… while this isn’t food, it is a big one here in Kazakhstan!!! It’s fermented horse milk! Yes, people drink it here often. Shubat is camel’s milk. Both are similar to kefir. Quite sour. The above pic is from when I was at a neighbor’s house a few weeks back and I totally drank (kumis) Read more about Central Asian Food Series: Kumis & Shubat[…]
Central Asian Food Series: Manti
Once again, the above picture is not mine. 🙈 Most Central Asian (and any Asian for that matter) countries have their form of Manti, also known as samsa. This is definitely a national, staple dish here. It is a boiled or steamed dumpling. (Our friends baked them and called them “samsa” so maybe it’s a different Read more about Central Asian Food Series: Manti[…]
Central Asian Food Series: Doner (Kebab)
Ahhhh doner. One of the cheapest, on-the-go food you can get here. There are doner shops everywhere! Andrew loves this food and it is not something I eat often myself (they put french fries INSIDE the wrap-yuck lol. Doner is kebab meat (cooked on a vertical rotisserie) put inside with fresh salad type veggies and Read more about Central Asian Food Series: Doner (Kebab)[…]
Central Asian Food Series: Beshbarmark
This is not a photo of Beshbarmark (sounds like Bishparmark) from one we have eaten here, we have forgotten to take photos HAH! This national dish is very traditional to Kazakhstan (And Kyrgyzstan and a couple of other Central Asian, Turkic specific countries). It is typically made all with the same water in a very Read more about Central Asian Food Series: Beshbarmark[…]
Central Asian Food Series: Lagman
Talk about another one of my favorite dishes! The lagman (pronounced Logmon short vowels) dish is originating from the Uyghur (pronounced Weegrr) minority people group (they mostly live in Northwest China but there are many that live across Central Asia). This dish, as you can see, is primarily a noodle dish. These noodles are different Read more about Central Asian Food Series: Lagman[…]
Central Asian Food Series: Georgian Food
Oh. my. Goodness. Talk about one of my favorite dishes of all time! Do you see this cheesy/egg bread boat? (this is not my photo, FYI, last week when we went and ordered this dish…I umm half devoured it before I remembered to snap a pic 😂) When they serve it, they “scramble” the egg Read more about Central Asian Food Series: Georgian Food[…]
Central Asian Food Series: Shashlik
Oh my, this is by far one of my favorite things to eat here in Almaty. It’s typically pretty cheap. BUT, just need to make sure you have enough time to wait for them to grill (basically barbecue) it. Most restaurants that serve it will have a special outdoor grilling area just for shashlik. This Read more about Central Asian Food Series: Shashlik[…]