Talk:Turkmen cuisine

I served in the Peace Corps in Turkmenistan and have a number of Turkmen friends. I've talked about food a lot with Turkmen and Americans, visited and eaten in all regions of the country, and eaten in all types of venues (ranging from private homes to rural cafes to nice restaurants in the capital). And I've NEVER heard of ka'urma or churban churpa, or ishkiykli for that matter. There is a sort of flat meat pie called ishlykly which was popular, but I've never heard of it in balls. Aside from palow, which always contains carrots, not radishes, manty (described correctly), somsas (I'm not very good at describing food, I guess these are sort of fried flaky "pockets" which in T-stan always contain greasy mutton, but in Kyrgystan may also contain delicious chicken, cheese, or a combination (and yes I am being POV =)), gutap, which are like ishlyky but sometimes contain spinach, and a type of pizza-like dish I forget the name of. There are regional variations: the area where I lived, Lebap, is known for its somsas, while the northern region of Dashoguz is known for the pizza-like thing I just described. Also, the meat soup should be written "chorba" not "shorpa." Additionally, in Teke Turkmen, which is considered the most proper, bread is "chorek," not "naan" (as it is called in regions with more Uzbek influence). Palow is cooked in a big pot called a kazan, which I think is known in other areas of the former Soviet Union. It functions more like a stewpot than a Dutch oven. Shashlyk traditionally refers to mutton, but at restaurants you will often see pork, chicken, and fish "shashlyk," as well as "lyula kebab" (or simply "kebab") which is a tube of ground meat prepared in the same way. I believe shashlyk is technically differentiated by the special type of vinegar sauce used. It may be worth noting that the main seasoning in Turkmen cuisine is cottonseed oil, which is available extremely cheaply in vast quantities due to the country's cotton production. Bread is hugely important in Turkmen culture, and it is considered impolite to throw it, step on it, or turn the loaf upside-down. Some people go as far as picking up bread crumbs from the ground so no one will step on them. Finally, if Turkmenistan is known for any item of food, it is the country's melon's, which are famous throughout the former Soviet Union and the subject of a national holiday. I will proceed with some of the spelling and other minor edits listed above, but at the moment the rest of the information is essentially original research, unless we can agree that they are simple and straightforward enough "facts" that no one would find their inclusion controversial. Unfortunately, most articles I have seen on Turkmen food are wildly inaccurate and often frankly bizarre, referring to foods I've never heard of anywhere in Central Asia. Would citing Peace Corps materials (such as our volunteer-produced cookbook) be considered inappropriate, given that they are not readily accessible or verifiable? I actually have an electronic copy of the latest edition of "The Full Manty," our cookbook for volunteers (which mainly includes recipes for making dishes from American and world cuisine with local ingredients). Whew, this is getting long. Comments and guidance appreciated. Stuffisthings (talk) 06:31, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I was just writing off of what I found available on the 'net. Please, since you were there, give this a rewrite! :) Chris (クリス • フィッチ) (talk) 14:04, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

OK, major update/rewrite complete. A note about sources: I'm sure there are more sources on the melons, and I found a number of news wire reports on the melon day holiday that repeated the "400 varieties" claim, however, most were posted on other blogs/mailing lists and I haven't been able to find a direct link. Feel free to eliminate anything felt to be NPOV, unverifiable, or irrelevant. Would welcome a Turkmen to check my spelling as I rarely saw the names of foods written down, only heard them spoken aloud. Stuffisthings (talk) 18:09, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Good luck, there are less than ten Turkmen on the en:Wikipedia. Chris (クリス • フィッチ) (talk) 20:47, 15 April 2008 (UTC)