Tash-Kordo

Tash-kordo (stone food) was one of the first Kyrgyz dishes to be discovered. To make this meal, the meat of a young lamb was cooked over stones, which was a common method of food preparation prior to the invention of ovens. Kyrgyz nomads would dig a 1-2 meter deep hole and fill it with stones and wood to start a fire. After the fire was extinguished and coals appeared, the meat was rubbed with salt and placed in a ram's washed stomach, which was then covered with earth, skins, and large leaves. The meat would not get dirty as it cooked for 5-6 hours thanks to these natural "dishes."

Tash-kordo is now made in both an oven and traditional stone pits. Today, if the meat is cooked in a pit, it is hung on special hooks rather than being placed in a ram's stomach. Tash-kordo is still considered a delicacy in Kyrgyzstan.