Postcard from Bishkek

The other day, a friend, (who happens to know that I have a penchant for spicy foods), asked me how I coped without my daily fix of Marmite,  a spread made from yeast extract which is a byproduct of brewing beer.  To be fair, it is more salty than spicy … and is definitely an […]

One of the questions I am often asked concerns what I miss and my answer usually goes something like: “Well, I can’t get Marmite here.” That usually elicits a bemused look and a question: “Marmite?” When they hear the answer, (that it’s a food spread made from a yeast extract and a by product from […]

Scotland has Haggis, Northern England has Black Pudding and Cornwall has Pasties … Southern Kyrgyzstan had Plov and Karakol … Karakol has Ashlan Fu. Ashlan Foo is just as much at home on the menu in cafes and restaurants as it as at street and market food stalls … it is to be found on […]

The other day I was doing some research for one of our other sites: tastes.kg. Normally we are looking for ethnic dishes – Kyrgyz traditional cuisine, Uzbek, Uighur … that sort of thing – but Kyrgyzstan, (and Bishkek in particular), offers a wide variety of dishes. As it happens, I was looking for vegetarian dishes, […]

When I first arrived to Kyrgyzstan, almost twenty years agi, I was often asked about the differences I noticed between Britain and Kyrgyzstan.   What people were most interested in was the “big” differences … at that time, they had an impression of life in the West but that had been augmented by an influx […]

I always tell people, (for example: the pupils when I was a schoolteacher, the kids, and even our staff), that if they make a mistake then it is far better to own up to it than to pretend it didn’t happen, even if it means that they will get into trouble … because when it […]

Since 2005, December 15th has been marked in several Tea producing countries as International Tea Day. The idea of holding such a day came out of the World Social Forum held in Mumbai in 2004, and the idea was taken up and developed by Trade Union organizations. Although one of the aims of the day […]

The other day, I had a visitor – the mother of an old friend.  After we had spent some time in small talk, chatting about this and that, and just as she was about to take her leave she mentioned the reason for her visit. “Ian, do you remember those marinoveni eggs”, (pickled eggs),  ” […]

It is often said that the Kyrgyz traditionally ate every part of an animal … and knowing that that the eyes of a sheep are given as a sign of respect to honoured guests, I can believe it. Djorgom is a traditional Kyrgyz dish which remains popular today – indeed it is sometimes called the […]

Bread is a basic food and there are many different forms …  from Leypioshka – the traditional flat breads, soldatski – a tin load, rezheniy – a black bread … down to the modern synonym for technological advancement – slices bread. Here is a selection of dough that are often encountered as accompaniments to meals here […]