Circassian cuisine is an ethnic cuisine, based on the cooking style and traditions of the Circassian people of the

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

. This region lies between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, within European Russia.

Traditional dishes

Circassian

cuisine A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, List of cooking techniques, techniques and Dish (food), dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, ...

consists of many different traditional dishes, varying by season.''www.circassianworld.com/AdygheCuisine.pdf''
/ref> The summer time traditional dishes are mainly

dairy products Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

and

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

s. In winter and spring, the traditional dishes mostly consist of

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

and

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

. Traditional dishes include ficcin, seasoned

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

with sauce, boiled

mutton Lamb and mutton, collectively sheep meat (or sheepmeat) is one of the most common meats around the world, taken from the domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries'', and generally divided into lamb, from sheep in their first year, hogget, from sheep in thei ...

and

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

with a seasoning of sour

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

along with salt and crushed garlic. Among the many varieties of cheese in the

, Circassian cheese is the most popular one. On holidays, the Adyghe people traditionally make haliva () from toasted millet or wheat flour. In the Levant, there is a widely–recognized Circassian dish known as .YouTube
/ref>

Fresh meat dishes ()

*Circassian

goulash Goulash () is a meal (not quite stew or soup) made of meat and vegetables seasoned with paprika and other spices. Originating in Hungary, goulash is a common meal predominantly eaten in Central Europe but also in other parts of Europe. It is on ...

() *Meat goulash () *Lamb boiled in

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

() *Liver in fat () * Liver sausage () *Liver with sheep's-tail fat () *Thick pancake with liver and eggs () *Sheep sausage () *Fried sheep's tail fat with honey () *Sheep's tail fat cracklings () *Sheep's tail fat with honey () *Shepherd's lamb () *Boiled

() *Thin mutton sausage ()

Dried and smoked meat dishes ()

*Fried meat () *Fried meat and potatoes () *Fried meat with onions () *Meat and beans

broth Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish, or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups ...

() *Meat and noodles () *Meat and potato broth () *Meat roasted on

skewer A skewer is a thin metal or wood stick used to hold pieces of food together. The word may sometimes be used as a metonym, to refer to the entire food item served on a skewer, as in "chicken skewers". Skewers are used while grilling or roasting ...

shashlik Shashlik, or shashlyck ( ''shashlyk''), is a Dish (food), dish of skewered and grilled cubes of meat, similar to or synonymous with shish kebab. It is known traditionally by various other names in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, an ...

() *Dried sheep's side () *

Smoked meat Smoked meat is the result of a method of preparing red meat, white meat, and seafood which originated in the Paleolithic, Paleolithic Era. Smoking adds Flavor (taste), flavor, improves the appearance of meat through the Maillard reaction, and ...

goulash ()

Poultry and egg dishes ()

*Boiled chicken with garlic () *Broasted chicken () *Chicken fried in a brazier () *Chicken with new potatoes () *Chicken and noodles () *Chicken in pepper sauce () *Chicken in soured cream sauce, () * Chicken in walnut sauce () *

Fried chicken Fried chicken, also called Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or ...

with onion () *Stuffed chicken baked in dough () *Eggs fried in soured cream () *Boiled

goose A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egy ...

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

() *Goose (duck) with noodles () *Baked goose (duck) stuffed with Rice () * *Sweet omelette () *

Pastry Pastry refers to a variety of Dough, doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury Baking, baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often descr ...

straws, twiglets () *Boiled turkey () *Stuffed turkey ()

Fish dishes (Bdzezchey shxinighwexer)

* Fried fish () *Fried fish in soured cream ()

Dairy product dishes

* *

Baked milk Baked milk ( , , ) is a variety of boiled milk that has been particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. It is made by simmering milk on low heat for eight hours or longer. History Baked milk was relatively popular outside of Russia ...

(She sch'eghepschtha) * Cheese () * Fried cheese () *

Hominy Hominy is a food item produced from dried maize (corn) kernels that have been treated with an alkali, in a process called nixtamalization ( is the Nahuatl word for "hominy"). "Lye hominy" is a type of hominy made with lye. History The process ...

polenta Polenta (, ) is an Italian cuisine, Italian dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. It may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried or Grilling, grilled. The variety of cereal used is ...

() * Kurt () * – This kind of milk preserve is not used in contemporary times. It used to be prepared for winter. * Sour milk () * Soured cream sauce with cheese ()

Flour, cereal and navy-bean dishes

*Lakum () * Haliva stuffed with

offal Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the internal organ (anatomy), organs of a butchered animal. Offal may also refer to the by-products of Milling (grinding), milled grains, such as corn or wheat. Some cultures strong ...

(),

cottage cheese Cottage cheese is a curdled milk product with a mild flavour and a creamy, heterogeneous, soupy texture, made from skimmed milk. An essential step in the manufacturing process distinguishing cottage cheese from other fresh cheeses is the additio ...

(), potatoes (), potatoes and cheese (),

navy bean The navy bean, haricot bean, Jigna bean, pearl haricot bean, Boston bean, white pea bean, or pea bean is a variety of the common bean (''Phaseolus vulgaris'') native to the Americas, where it was first domesticated. It is a dry white bean that ...

s () or pears () *Potato and cheese pie () *Cottage-cheese () and cottage cheese and

scallion Scallions (also known as green onions and spring onions) are edible vegetables of various species in the genus ''Allium''. Scallions generally have a milder taste than most onions. Their close relatives include garlic, shallots, leeks, chive ...

pie () * *Flaky bread () *Shalama () * *

Cornbread Cornbread is a quick bread made with cornmeal, associated with the cuisine of the Southern United States, with origins in Native American cuisine. It is an example of batter bread. Dumplings and pancakes made with finely ground cornmeal are st ...

, unleavened ( or ) or leavened () *

Maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

lakum () *Maize rolls, with () or without fat () *Unleavened millet bread ( or ) * * or ( or ) *Boiled () or roasted () corn on the cob *Corn flakes () *Maize () or millet halama () *Kilish () *Wheat () or maize pasta () * * * *Millet soup () *Boiled barley () * or ) * * *Sweet rice

pilaf Pilaf (), pilav or pilau () is a rice dish, or in some regions, a wheat dish, whose recipe usually involves cooking in stock or broth, adding spices, and other ingredients such as vegetables or meat, and employing some technique for achieving ...

() *Dumplings () with meat () or chicken () *Navy-bean sauce (), soup () or soup with potatoes ()

Potato and gourd dishes ()

*Baked

gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly '' Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Many gourds ha ...

() *Boiled gourd () *Gourd sauce () *Potato paste () *Fried potatoes () *New potatoes

stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been Cooking, cooked in Soup, liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for ...

ed in soured cream () *Potato stewed in soured cream or broth ()

Beverages

*Kalmyk tea () *Makhsima () *Maramazey ()

Sweets and desserts

* Haliwa () – sweet, dessert in Arabic * *Nuts with honey () *Dried pears () *Watermelon honey () *

References

{{Authority control Circassian culture