Sofya Olzeeva, Kalmyk Cuisine

Sofya talks about traditional cuisine, including meat dishes, bakery and milk vodka. This is her story: The Kalmyks like mutton very much. It is possible to make any dish from it. Especially, a soup from mutton is held in high regard, because of its medicinal properties to heal a headache. The mutton should be cooked for a long time. In the past, people who had a toothache ate beef. Meat cooked with pasta is very delicious. Flour is mixed with an egg and salt, and the dough is rolled into a thin layer which then is cut into square pieces. Afterwards, these pieces are put into a boiling soup with meat. Khursn makhn is fried meat. In the past, pancakes were cooked by putting them inside a pile of hot ashes. When ready, a pancake was cut into slices and eaten with tea. There were many varieties of bortsg biscuits, including tselvg, moshkmr, khorkha, etc. What is left after distilling milk vodka is called bozo. It was mixed with milk. The final product is called khoormg. In the past, young men did not drink alcohol, it was only the elders who had the right to do so.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin