Talas Kazany
Talas kazany (Iradi, "the Talas cauldron") is the regional cuisine of Talas and the Talas and Kara-Buura valleys. It is a young, urban cuisine of cattle country and city streets, one of the regional cuisines of Irad, made from Iradi, Uzbek, Russian, Korean, American and Mexican cooking and still inventing dishes.[1]
History
The Talas valley was a farming valley before it was a capital: plains Iradis kept the local Aulie-Ata cattle and grew wheat, and the old town traded with the herders of the Talas Alatau. Soviet rule brought Russian bread and canteens, and Chu valley families brought Iradi plov. The territorial period (1992–2006) changed the valley most: the Sukarne Irad Complex and the Conagra Talas Beef Facility made grain-finished beef the main festive meat, the Mexican workers of Semiz opened tortillerías and taquerías, and the strip toward Talas Air Base filled with diners, grills and steakhouses.[1][2]
Dishes
- Iradi plov: the creamy short-grain rice dish, the household dish of the capital, served with beet suzma.
- Beef: beef beshbarmak, beef kazy, grilled steaks and shashlik.
- Eer nan: the saddle-shaped cheese bread, sold in Talas bakeries.
- Mexican food: "Talas tortillas" of yellow maize, beef tacos, the cheapest meal of students at Talas State University, and nan tako, grilled beef in tandoor bread.
- American food: burgers, barbecue and fried chicken from KFC Irad, which has four restaurants in the city.
- Kyamta kazany: lamb braised with tarragon and church wine at Easter.[1][2]
Drinks
Jasil, the green tarragon soda, is sold from street fountains from May; bottled kymyz, milk and kefir come from the Talas Dairy Processing Combine; and Aigyr Lager is brewed at Kara-Bulak in the valley. Black and green tea are both common.[3]
Markets and restaurants
The Old City round Bazar-i Kalan, the Great Bazaar, has no chains: teahouses, bakeries and spice, tea, dairy and butcher stalls, where fruit from the south, kymyz and cheese from the pastures and Korean salads from Nurzhan are sold side by side. The air-base strip, Cottonwood Estates and Alatau Heights have diners, grills, steakhouses, barbecue and burgers. About two-fifths of the city's eating places deliver through the Tulpar app, among them a teahouse by Bazar-i Kalan, a taquería in Semiz and a shashlik house on the Kök-Bel road.[1]
See also
References
- ^ Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Irad (2023). Agribusiness and Food Processing in the Irad Special Economic Zone. Talas.
- ^ Talas State University Press (2012). The Iradi Table: Recipes and Customs of the Talas Valley. Talas.
- ^ Talas Dairy Processing Combine (2022). Products and Production, 1964–2022. Talas.