Besh barmak... Yum?!?!

18:30 18 November 2008

After butchering our own sheep yesterday, we departed to go guesting at my host-mother’s brother’s house. It was at this event that I realized the extent I have gotten used to Kyrgyzstan and my taste preferences have really changed. At the guesting, we were treated to a full round of besh barmak. In principle, besh barmak is a simple noodle, bullion, and meat dish eaten with one’s hands- the name comes from “five fingers” in Kyrgyz because of the manner in which it is eaten, but in reality the process of it is much more ceremonial and complicated. It begins with a ceremonial hand washing with everyone seated on tishooks- large pillow mattresses- on the floor and then the passing around of giant hunks of meat and fat. Each person is expected to eat a bit of the fat and meat and take the rest home with them for later consumption. There are also the best parts of sheep, namely the eyes, brains, gums, and cheek meat, which are diced up from the roasted head, placed in a cup with bullion and passed around. Then the preparation for the central dish commences, out of the large chunks of meat everyone has been provided with, knives are passed and everyone begins chipping the meat into very small pieces which are placed in the central bowl. Finally, noodles and bullion are added to the chipped mutton and, voila, you have besh barmak. It is eaten, as stated with ones hands from the communal bowl and is followed by another hand washing (a child comes around with a pitcher of warm water and a basin) because by this point your hands and face are covered in a film of sheep fat.

While the first time I ate besh barmak, I found the whole process pretty disturbing and the unseasoned, simply boiled, taste of mutton and sheep fat hard to stomach. Like I said, my preferences here have changed quite remarkably and I not only tolerated but actually legitimately enjoyed the most recent round of besh barmak. The central dish was pretty tasty to me and even the cheek meat and gums (no eyeball this time) were relatively tolerable. I think that in addition of just my time here, my appreciation for the process of butchering and preparing a sheep that I witnessed earlier in the day helped my palette acclimate better to the Kyrgyz national dishes.