Horse meat and fruit tea: Eating like a local in Almaty

Kazakh cuisine traces its roots to nomadic herdsmen, and is shaped by necessity and easy availability of ingredients

- Joanna Lobo

"I am so hungry, I could eat a horse." In Kazakhstan, I didn't just understand this idiom, I lived it.

At the end of a 14-day trip to the world's largest landlocked country, our diet could be summarized into two major items: meat and tea. We were a group of four, with healthy appetites. "But you are Indian?" "Yes, but we eat everything!" And, we did. Lamb, mutton, pork, chicken, beef, and horse: all were fair game.

Kazakh cuisine traces its roots to the country's nomadic herdsmen and their practices, and is thus largely shaped by necessity and easy availability: animals (lamb, beef, horse), and dairy products. It may seem like only meat and potatoes. It is simple and yet, interesting.

On our first day in Almaty, we join a city tour. At the bustling Green Bazaar, we linger over stalls stacked high with nuts—imported from nearby Uzbekistan or China, and dried dehydrated fruit like apples, mango, figs and strawberries. As we wander, some vendors hand out goodies to try: intensely sweet dehydrated ice cream, fresh blueberries, boiled horse meat sausage (kazy). Some greet us with the odd namaste, promising us the best price; others pose readily for photos.