Kyrgyzstan Eats: A Dungan Feast in Naryn
Don’t judge Maria Muvazova’s cooking by the temperature in her unheated dining room. Because as soon as you try her spicy noodle laghman stew, you are spoiled; the glacial air merely a memory. I’ve...
View ArticleObama Burgers Come to Bishkek
US President Barack Obama has come to be known for his salt-of-the-earth taste in food and drink: coconut custard pie in small-town Ohio, Kumbaya beers on the White House porch, down-home "hell...
View ArticleThe Death of Osh's Bazaar
One of the tragic byproducts of the ethnic strife that ravaged the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh this past summer has been the effective destruction of its once-vibrant bazaar, where Kyrgyz and Uzbek...
View ArticleTriple Restaurant Fire in Kyrgyzstan’s Capital: Bizness? Nationalism? Pork Hate?
Simultaneous nighttime fires struck three restaurants in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, this week, all of them specializing in Russian or Ukrainian cuisine. While investigators poke around in the...
View ArticleKyrgyzstan: More on Osh's Ethnically-Divided Restaurant Scene
In a post from the other day, I linked to a recent RFE/RL item and Justin Vela's more detailed Eurasianet article about how last year's ethnic clashes in the Kyrgyz city of Osh have profoundly impacted...
View ArticleKyrgyzstan: The Fajitas of Osh
As recently reported on this blog, the once-famous culinary scene in the Kyrgyz town of Osh has been struggling to live up to its former glory after the ethnic riots of 2010. Registan's Joshu Foust...
View ArticleMore on Kyrgyzstan's Nuts of Wrath
Eurasianet correspondent Michael Igoe's superb recent report about the environmental dangers faced by Kyrgyzstan's Arslanbob area, home to the largest natural-growth walnut forest in the world, left me...
View ArticleMore on the Burgers of Bishkek
For those of you who missed it, Central Asia-based Eurasianet contributor Myles Smith had a great story out of Bishkek about Begemot ("hippopotamus"), a local fast food chain that's revolutionizing the...
View ArticleKyrgyzstan: Horse Penis Slur Incites Rage
Kyrgyzstan’s year has begun in incendiary fashion amid talk of horse penises, offended national pride and the fate of the country’s most valuable economic asset.At the center of the controversy is...
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