Numbering under 90,000, the Altai people are a Siberian Turkic-speaking group living primarily in the mountainous Altai Republic in Russia. They are descendants of an original population which mixed with waves of Turkic speaking people starting around 2,000 years ago. Apparently, they are distant cousins to Eskimos. They are primarily divided into northern and southern ethnolinguistic groups.

Originally a nomadic hunter and gathering population, Southern Altaians adopted herding from their Turkic invaders, raising horses, goats, sheep and even cattle. An influx from ethnic Russians in the 19th century led to an expansion and reliance of agriculture, specially of cereals.

Altai cuisine falls within the greater spectrum of Central Asian nomadic cuisine. It's very animal-centric, with meats, blood and diary products occupying a central space. They specialized in preserving foodstuff to take with them in their journeys. Their most characteristic foods are kan, a blood sausage, kurut, dried curds, chegen, fermented milk and talkan, roast ground grains. They also smoked deer and yak, made a type of cheese and enjoy tea, which they mix with talkan or with fatty cream.

For my quick sojourn into the cuisine of the Altai people, I made:

Kocho

Lamb Soup with Barley

Soups are very common among Siberian and Central Asian people - they usually have few ingredients and seasonings, with just a meat and a starch. I would have totally passed on this particular soup, had I not made beshbarmak previously. While this popular Central Asian dish is not a soup per se, it's very similar in nature. It's also absolutely delicious.

For my attempt at making kocho, I used pear/pearled barley. This is barley which has had both the shell and the bran removed, and it's the most common type at American grocery stores. It does not need to be soaked, though soaking could reduce cooking time. If you are using another type of barley, follow the package description as to whether you need to soak it (a must for hulled barley) and how long to cook it for.

I used lamb shoulder chops, as they were on sale. I salted them and browned them before boiling them, but neither was called for in the original recipe. You can simply add the water on the raw lamb and add salt when you add the garlic clove.

My attempts at making this recipe, fell a bit short. I got busy and overcooked the lamb by half an hour, so by the time the whole dish was done it had fully come off the bones and mixed with the barley. I could not serve it on the side. I also didn't add additional water when I added the barley, so I ended up with a lamb-and-barley stew instead of a soup. No matter, it was very tasty nonetheless.

This dish is usually served with kaymak, a type of sour cream, and the sourdough rye bread made in Altai.

PRINT PDF

Lamb Soup with Barley Ingredients 2 lbs bone-in lamb salt to taste 1 garlic clove, peeled 1 cup pearl(ed) barley 1 bunch of wild onions, scallions or chives, sliced Directions Wash the lamb, pat dry and add salt. Heat a large cooking pot over high heat and brown the lamb pieces on both sides, in batches if necessary. Return all lamb to the pot. Add enough water to cover it by about 1". Put on the stove over high heat and bring to a boil. Skim off the foamy film as it forms. Reduce heat to low, add the garlic clove, cover, and simmer for about 2 1/2 hours. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add the barley and more water, if needed, and continue simmering for 45 minutes. Remove the lamb from the soup and break into pieces. Add the sliced onions to the soup. Serve the lamb alongside the soup.

Adapted from Yulia Mulino's recipe at Gateway to Russia

Related cuisines I've explored so far: Bukharian Jewish, Kazakh | Kyrgyz

Do you have a comment on this recipe? Please make it here