On entering a yurta care had to be taken not to
touch the top or side framing of the doorway, nor
to stumble over the threshold, because these acts
of carelessness -- it was thought -- would bring ill
luck upon the household. The place of honour in the
tent was at the far side of the hearth and facing the
door. When people entered they left their galoshes,
or outer shoes, just inside the tent, so that they
would not foul the felt mats and carpets covering
the floor, and sat crosslegged on cushions facing
the hearth in order of precedence; children, when
present, sat at the right of the door. As soon as
a visitor entered he exchanged the ceremonial
greetings with his host, who then took the guest's
right hand in both his, after which both men touched
their own foreheads, lips and breasts with their
right hands and sat down together in the place of
honour. Their principal male attendants now sat
down in order of importance round the hearth and
further conventional greetings were exchanged,
after which each man held his hands together,
palms upward, and recited a passage from the Koran,
then all said together 'Allah Akbar' (God is Great)
and raised their hands simultaneously and stroked
their beards as they let them fall again. The host's
chief wife then brought copper or wooden bowls of tea --
usually a mixture of tea, milk, salt and butter -- and
pieces of salted bread. The tea was sucked noisily
through the teeth, which often held a piece of sugar
between them, and pieces of bread soaked in tea were
eaten between gulps.
If the guest was staying the night his horse and
those of his companions, which had been walked up
and down to cool, were watered at a nearby stream
and fed with grain, and the best of the year-old
ewes were collected outside the tent for the visitor
to pick those to be eaten. With ceremonial reluctance,
he was persuaded to place his hand on the head of a
ewe for himself and on others for his men, and after
this had been done the host touched several more,
according to the number who would participate in the
feast, and the chosen sheep were led away to be killed,
skinned, cut up and simmered in cauldrons for the evening
meal. While waiting for this, bowls of dried raisins or
apricots were served, and bowls of koumiss were drunk.
When guests were only making a short call in summer,
koumiss took the place of tea, and this was served
in wooden bowls, often beautifully japanned, holding
1, 2, 3 or 4 pints, from a leathern bottle holding
about four gallons for current use; and one hopes
that hosts always remembered the capacity of their
guests, because it was bad form to return a bowl
unemptied. Small leather bottles were used for
carrying koumiss on the saddle.
Before partaking of the main meal all left the
tent, when warm water was poured over the hands,
and after wiping them with cotton towels, all said
the meal-time prayer before returning to their
places. As the cooking was done outside in summer,
a large, low circular table stood on the hearth in
the middle of the circle, and the women served first
the guest and then the host, then the guest's men
and then the others with bowls of steaming broth
and meat, and also plates of fried bread. A great
dish of meat in convenient pieces was placed in the
middle of the table and each man dipped his right
hand into this when further portions were required.
Knives and wooden spoons were sometimes used, but
hands played the most important part, because they
served as forks and made plates more or less unnecessary.
The boiled mutton was washed down by broth sucked
noisily between the teeth from the bowls, and after
all had eaten their fill they again washed and dried
their hands. The residue of the feast was removed to
the outside of the tent, where it was soon eaten up
by the children and servants, sufficient being kept
back for the women, who now served the men with more
bowls of tea. As this was drunk, the feasters showed
their appreciation of the good fare they had consumed
by eructation, a performance required by Kazak good
manners, and apparently the biggest belcher was the
one most satisfied. When sufficient tea had been
drunk, the drinkers turned their basins upside down
on the table. Smoking was seldom indulged in.
A good introduction to Kazakh cuisine can be found
at