Kyrgyz Bread

Bread in Kyrgyzstan is eaten with every meal, for Kyrgyz bread is held in high regard and considered a culinary art all its own.

One of the most delicious varieties is boorsok, yeast dough which is cut into bite-size pieces and fried in oil. Boorsok are baked at home and are also served in restaurants. They may be salty or sweet and are usually dipped in kaymak, a milk product which resembles sour cream.

In Kyrgyzstan you will find a large selection of round breads. These include naan, the most common Kyrgyz bread which is baked in a clay tandoor oven and eaten with everyday meals; tokoch, a cake made from yeast dough; and flaky Kyrgyz flatbreads such as chabat, zhupka and kattama, the latter of which has onions baked into the dough.

Kemech (kemoch) is a sourdough flatbread which is cooked over a fire using one of two methods: either a medium-sized loaf is formed from the dough, placed in a special oblong pot and cooked over low heat, or loaves the size of a small apple are formed and baked in ash.