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The Turkmen gastronomy fits perfectly in its geographical framework and presents therefore features which are characteristic of the region of Central Asia. Meal is generally constituted by two principal courses and according to tradition it should be eaten sitting on the floor and helping oneself from low tables
without using cutlery. How you can easily imagine, nowadays the habits have largely changed and the way meals are taken is now quite similar to the western way.
In general the principal ingredients of the Turkmen gastronomy are rice, vegetables and ovine meat. The national dish of the country, diffused also in some neighbouring states, is the plov, a recipe ba-sed on rice cooked with saffron
and seasoned with little pieces of lamb meat and carrots. The dish which often is served with the plov is the shurba, a soup based on lamb meat cooked with legumes which is particularly suitable for the rigours of winter. The traditional bread is the so-called chorek, constituted by buns of wheat baked and ser-ved hot just out of special wood ovens. The two principal courses usually are followed
by a course of fresh fruit, among which grapes and melons, particularly renowned for their aroma, are worthy of te-sting. The most diffused beverage is green tea, called gek, served both during meals and in the course of the day, but among bevera-ges it should be mentioned also the shubat, a thick liquid obtained from the fermentation of camel milk.
For all those who should not appreciate the
dishes of Turkmen ga-stronomy it could be useful to mention that quite all the restaurants of principal top-level hotels offer, besides local recipes, also dishes of international cuisine.
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