Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2014 number

The paper deals with characteristics of modern cuisine of Tatars in Kazakhstan. According to 2009 census, 204,229 Tatars live in Kazakhstan. The authors emphasize that the modern Tatar community in Kazakhstan is a conglomeration of different groups, formed as a result of intensive migration. In the 1950-1960s in the southern and south-eastern parts of Kazakhstan a group of so-called “Chinese” Tatars was formed. In the 1950s they were repatriated to the Soviet Union from the People’s Republic of China. During Civil War Tatars left Russia. After having spent three decades in China, they, in their own opinion, acquired special identity and certain cultural distinctions, including their cuisine. Traditions of this and other groups are described in the article. Taking the cuisine traditions and innovations as an example, the authors identify the main tendencies of ethno-cultural development of Kazakhstan’s ethnic minorities. Special attention is paid to cultural borrowings from abroad. The paper attempts at identifying the most important functions of the ethnic cuisine in a multiethnic community of Kazakhstan at the beginning of XXI century. During the research the authors came to general conclusion that the modern cuisine of Tatars in Kazakhstan is the result of their adaptation to different environmental conditions and ethno-cultural situation in the republic. Such adaptation determined variability of meals of Tatar population compared to the traditions of the majority of Tatars outside the territory of Kazakhstan. Neighboring cultures greatly influenced the specifics of the cuisine of Tatars in Kazakhstan. Despite all innovations cuisine of Tatars of Kazakhstan remains the most stable element of their culture. Specifics of traditional cuisine are often considered as markers of ethnic, religious and local identity.