Kazakhstan:
Prior to
the movie Borat, where Sacha Baron Cohan pretends to be a naïve Kazakh reporter
making a documentary about America, I had never really heard of Kazakhstan. And
why should I? It is only the biggest land locked country in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan).
The truth is very few people here in the states know anything about this
country. The Western world is so unconscious of this country that during the
2012 Olympics, Borat’s satirical version of the Kazakh national anthem was
played for one of their Olympic gold medalists instead of the real national anthem
(The Telegraph). In Borat, Cohen’s character portrays the people of the nation
as mostly eastern European, who are antiemetic and unaware of the modern world
that surrounds them. While some of the country does lie in Eastern Europe, most
of it is in Asia meaning you have a mix of ethnic backgrounds in this country.
Movie:
To get a
sense of Kazakhstan’s history without watching a documentary, “Myn Bala:
Warriors of the Steppe” is the movie to watch. This movie can be found on
Netflix. The movie is the historical account of how the various tribes of the
region united and fought the invading tribe of Dzungar, a ruthless Mongol tribe from the east. This is an underdog
story, where the lead character is a teenager who rally’s a group of young rebels
against the much larger invading forces. This story has everything from battles
to duals, to a love story, to teenagers disobeying the wishes of their elders.
Food:
It was hard for me to find recipes
that appealed to me for today’s dish. There staple food seems to be boiled
meat: Mutton, Horse, and Camel. They also eat a wide variety of sour milk
products that I am too afraid to attempt to make. I did manage to find one
chicken recipe: Kazakh Lemon Chicken. I have all the ingredients except lemon
rind. So I have chosen to use grapefruit rind instead, and hope for the best.
If you would like to see the recipe I will be using, it is below:
http://www.cookadvice.com/recipes/kazakh_lemon_chicken-16254-recipe.htm
Tea is often drunk in Kazakhstan. I did not have tea from this country, but I did have some tea from China. Since China borders this country I had Chinese black tea with milk prior to dinner.
Work Sited:
“Borat spoof Kazahstan anthem played by mistake”. “The
Telegraph”. Published: 23 March 2012. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/weirdnewsvideo/9163577/Borat-spoof-Kazakhstan-anthem-played-by-mistake.html.
Retrieved: 9 December 2013.
“Kazakh Lemon Chicken”. Cook Advice. http://www.cookadvice.com/recipes/kazakh_lemon_chicken-16254-recipe.htm.
Retrieved: 9 December 2013.
“Kazakh Cuisine”. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakh_cuisine.
Retrieved: 9 December 2013.
Satayev, Akan. “Myn Bala: Warriors of the Steppe”. NR 2012.O
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