I think that wherever you happen to live you have very set ideas about what things look like or how they are presented. It is human nature. Perhaps one of the most fascinating things about traveling to another country is seeing and checking out food; how it is eaten, how it is sold, and how it is presented.
This is the outside of a convenience store in Zarachney Kazakhstan. It is right down the road from our hostess Yelena.
Store hours are posted.
There was a counter in between me and the products you see here on the shelves. In this store, as was the case in many aside from large grocery stores, the person working behind the counter would assist you once you made your choice. But this was only for one part of the store.
There seem to be chocolate factories all over the place from what I saw and heard about. This area was no different and these are the chocolate choices for buyers, also only accessible through the shop hand.
On the opposite wall were cleaners, dish detergent, shampoos, etc. You could pick these out yourself in this store. I went to a pharmacy, and items such as these were behind glass that had to be unlocked. I did not really understand that from my perspective.
These are beer taps also self-serve in this particular convenience store. Alcohol and soda were self serve.
We stopped one day at Yelena's favorite place to buy fruit in town. Fruit is super fresh in Kazakhstan. It was perhaps my favorite thing to eat especially the apples. Kazakhstan legend states that it is the original home of the apple. We saw apple statues everywhere and the apple is a major symbol of this country.
Apple statue in Almaty. One of a million.
Again, some things behind a counter only accessible with help and the two pics below were examples of things you could grab off the shelves yourself.
The lady who worked at this store was nice. She remarked that Kristi and I were the first Americans she had ever seen in her store or in person for that matter. Many people in Kazakhstan we met had never met Americans.
Aside from small stores like these, there was the huge open air market in Almaty. I saw some pretty interesting things here.
Fruits of all kinds. While here I had a banana every day for breakfast and usually apples and pears throughout the day or served with meals.
Cheeses. A lot of cheese in Kazakhstan tastes like sour milk. It is very strong and very salty.
I loved the way they presented their apples and oranges, in pyramids.
Dried fruits and nut vendors would try to lure you toward their stand by offering samples.
Fresh eggs.
Canned goods, and vegetable and fruit salads of all kinds were offered at many stands. Each vendor has their own place about 8 x 8. I wondered how so many people in one place all selling similar items as many other vendors close by could make a profit. I was told that shoppers often found vendors they were of course, comfortable with and each vendor had a steady loyal following too aside from people who walked by and saw something they liked about either the food or presentation.
You could haggle the price a bit depending on what you were trying to buy.
Sheep's head is an occasional dish in Kazakhstan although while I was there I did not see it - thankfully. Although it may be good, the thought of something staring at me from a platter does not sit well given the culture I grew up in. Sheep's head is baked and served for symbolic purposes. When finished cooking it is passed onto an honored person in the room familiar with the tradition of serving it. An ear is cut off first and given to the youngest person so they listen to their elders and learn well. Next a piece from the eye is given to a person who is important to the server so they will be attentive. Lastly a piece is cut from the forehead and given to someone with a challenge to help them be smart about it
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Chicken. I had to wonder as we saw this how the meat did not go bad sitting outside of refrigeration. This man does not look worried one bit. He is keeping busy reading.
Beef tongue. I tried this on a salad at the beginning of our trip. It tasted like iron. And had the consistency of pot roast.
Spices of all kinds were sold, along with flour, sugar, rice and noodles.
Cookies. They were fabulous. But not as fabulous as the Oreo. Sorry Kazakhstan. I love my Oreos.
In the next section of the market each vendor had a different hardware section. Instead of the home depot you went to an individual stand for wallpaper. Then another for paint. And yet another for fixtures and so on.
And the lawn and garden section was here too.
You could find shoes, clothing, really anything you could think of at the market. And across the street was the huge chocolate factory. One stop shopping that was locally owned and operated and supported small business. A long way from WalMart. I loved it.
Other things I saw in food markets, convenience stores, or markets that made us stop and take a closer look or chuckle:
Crab and cream of mushroom chips.
Candy bars found here in the US were no problem to find in Kazakhstan. As a matter of fact, I saw many school cafeterias that sold all of this stuff along with home made lunches. It was most unexpected.
Something I have not seen in our grocery stores, although I may just have missed it because I don't really have any recipes that call for sheep's milk.
Kids love their cartoonish, sugary cereal no matter where they live.
Ya, that is a bunch of food in a short blog. There is tons more obviously. You will have to travel to Kazakhstan to see all of it. I highly suggest it. My experience there was fabulous. If you are a vegan, well you can get by. A friend of mine I traveled with was able to avoid meat while there with relatively little hassle. These meat loving people didn't exactly understand why she chose not to eat meat, however, they respected her. I only heard the statement, "go ahead and try meat. We won't tell anyone," only once. Ok, maybe twice.
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