Anticipation and Imagination

Timur has mentioned that it is tradition in his family, and in most Kazakh families, to throw a huge dinner in honor of the guest. I am excited to try all the new food, but probably more concerned that I don't insult anyone because I have a small stomach and it doesn't take much to get me too full. Thinking about this... and about my 1st day and arrival, I decided to research Kazakh traditional meals.

"Whether you are a chance traveler who has dropped in for a short rest or a specially invited guest, the host and his family will get busy preparing a konakasy, a special dinner in your honor. A young foal or lamb, or, if you have brought good news, even a white camel youngling will be killed to express the joy of the occasion.

Then they will spread a dastarkhan, a tablecloth as spacious as the steppe itself, on the floor in the centre of the yurt and lavishly cover it with choice dishes.
Mostly Kazakhstan food is made from meat and milk, above all, delicacies made from horse meat such as:
shuzhuk (sausage made of finely chopped meat);
kazy (sausage from ribs);
karta (sausage from the belly);
zhaya (boiled rump);
zhal (from urthers);

steaming kuirdak (from freshly killed sheep);
zhaubuirek (a whole carcass of a ram broiled on a spit);
syrbaz (a suckling lamb stewed in its own juice);
srneh (a whole deep-fried year-old lamb);
burmeh (a whole carcass of a ram stewed in its own skin in a hole dug in the earth with a fire made on top of it);
beshbarmak (a dressed carcass of a ram or a foal boiled in a cauldron).

In a word, you will be treated to every gourmet specialty that Kazakhstan cuisine has to offer. Of course, the dastarkhan is a serious test of the hostess' culinary talents. At the same time it is also an expression of the host's cordiality and generosity.

The Kazakhstan dastarkhan not only satisfies your thirst and hunger, it also lifts up your spirit. People learn much about one another at a dastarkhan. And the word "hospitality" means not only a heart meal accompanied by merrymaking and laughter: it means above all a cordial conversation with the guest."*

*Found here: http://aboutkazakhstan.com/Kazakhstan_National_Features.shtml