Journal for the Integrated Study of Dietary Habits
Online ISSN : 1881-2368
Print ISSN : 1346-9770
ISSN-L : 1346-9770
Brief Report
The cultural and historical characteristics of ethnic cuisine served at nowruz in the republic of Kazakhstan
Takahiro IwagakiAtsushi SaitoZhanar AmantayTaeko ShimodaAtsushi Ogihara
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2014 Volume 24 Issue 4 Pages 254-260

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Abstract

This study investigated the cultural background and historical transformation of the ethnic cuisine served at Nowruz Festival which celebrates the Lunar New Year in the Republic of Kazakhstan. This study aims to clarify (1) The present condition of the ethnic cuisine called Koje that is main dish at the festival, (2)The meaning of ingredients put into the Koje and (3)How the festival and ethnic cuisine have changed through the Soviet era, the independence period and present era. In previous studies, nutritional assessment and meal survey of Kazakh have been performed since around 1994. In addition, dining etiquette and meals at the time of performing religious rituals have also been researched. However, the study to clarify the cultural and historical background of the ethnic cuisine in a festival like Nowruz has not been done. The research method was participant observations for the events related to Nowruz and interviews of residents using the semi-structured interview technique.As a result, the following results were clarified. (1)Koje had been freely distributed to every people in the square of all races which live in Kazakhstan that participate in a festival. (2)It was common in all the homes to put in 7 ingredients such as horsemeat and white ingredients in order to wish for the family?s prosperity and happiness. (3)There are 3 types of celebrations of Nowruz in the Soviet era depend on the geographical, psychological and political distance from the Soviet government and population density of the Kazakh people. Based on this study, we were able to show that the values and daily lives of the Kazakh people strongly affect to the ethnic cuisine in Nowruz.

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© 2014 Japan Association for the Integrated Study of Dietary Habits
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