Naryn Oblasty Restaurants

Yurt: Besh Barmak - eating with 5 fingers

by Eish

Besh Barmak is Kyrgyz for "5 fingers" which is how you eat it. There is a precise technique which we learnt and really enjoyed practicing! Your hand is cupped and used as a scoop to get and hold the food. Then, using your thumb, you push the food from your hand-scoop into your salivating mouth. This is a mutton and rice dish, probably prepared from one of the sheep that my daughter tried to feed earlier on in our stay. Of course, sitting in a warm yurt on a thick carpet, or yak hide, or felt, completed the ambience.