In the traditional diet of the Ossetians, they played an auxiliary role.
Ossetian ritual food included pastries, boiled meat of a sacrificial animal and beer.
The ritual table personified the picture of the world and was dedicated to higher powers with prayers for the sending down of grace; he was a kind of mediator between God and people.
Carelessness, uncleanliness (physical and verbal) in relation to bread, and even more so to ritual pies, was considered an extremely immoral offense.
Among Ossetians, three pies (with cheese) in a ritual context meant three most important categories, three zones of mythological space - god ("khuytsau"), sun ("khur"), earth ("zæhh"),
In the case of a funeral meal, pies are served in even numbers - there is no middle pie, symbolizing the sun.
Only pies stuffed with cheese are considered traditional ( "uælibæh") and minced meat (fidjin" ).
Pies with other vegetable fillings are an innovation, the result of ethno-cultural mutual influences.
Pie dough made from wheat flour.
Due to specific environmental conditions, wheat reserves were limited, therefore, in the life and folklore of Ossetians, it has long been endowed with sacred qualities.
Depending on the ritual purpose, their shape varied from round, triangular and oval.
There are special rules for cutting round pies: they are cut into 8 parts after saying a prayer; the immobility of the plate with pies is strictly observed, which is associated with ideas about the foundation of the universe, about the stability of the life process.
Triangular and oval pies are usually broken by hand.
Traditional pastries also include:
1) Guydyn - a large ritual cake prepared on special occasions: for the betrothed bride, for the holiday of newborn boys (kæhtsgænæn), for New Year, a young man going for the first time to mow.
The wedding guydeen was baked in the bride's house and brought to the groom's house with wedding gifts (huyn).
There were special large ovens for baking guydyn.
It was stuffed with fresh cheese and sometimes with chicken.
2) Kuyrdy guydyn - "Churek to the blacksmith." Guydyn, stuffed with cheese, of large size, which was always brought to the village blacksmith along with payment for the completed order.
3) Fidjin - a pie stuffed with minced meat.
It is the food embodiment of the complex development of agricultural and pastoral traditions.
These pies were prepared only for festive meals associated with positive emotions.
Fidjin was never served at funeral feasts.
Fyddzhyn was an obligatory element of the wedding feast, the so-called "accelerating" dish, a kind of dessert, the serving of which meant the end of the treat.
4) Khæbizjin - a pie with fresh cheese or cottage cheese, baked in butter.
5) Skudadzhyntæ (davondzhyntæ) - pies with green wild garlic.
Mostly prepared and served at funeral feasts.
According to popular belief, on the night of Great Lent on the night of Lauzgænæn (Pancake Wake), the dead go far to heaven for the davon.
Allegedly, this plant food replaces fruits in the dead.
6) Dedatæ (basyltæ) - cakes made from wheat flour.
By this time, the housewives are preparing wheat cakes in the form of figures of people, animals, and various objects.
The big one is called grandfather, and the others are called læppyntæ, which bear the names of various tools: plows, yokes, harrows, etc.
Cheese cakes called basiltæ are also prepared. If the ceremonial læppyntæ were intended for adult workers, then the basiltæ were made for children caroling on New Year's Eve.
In the sacrificial meal, the complex of meat food was endowed with special symbolism.
Traditionally, meat was eaten boiled and much less often fried. The opposition "boiled-fried" determined in the past the nature of sacred and secular meals.
The stable tradition of ritual slaughter of animals contributed to the preservation in everyday life of traditional methods of carcass division, meat processing and the preparation of a strictly defined minimum of dishes that determine the nature of the meal. An indispensable element of the meal in the case of ritual slaughter is still the boiled head of the animal.
The head (sær), the neck part (bærzæy), the scapular part (uæn) or the fat tail (smoke) as the most honorable parts are placed on the table in front of the elders who lead the ritually prestigious meal.
Shish kebab was a popular meat dish - physio
For him, mainly fresh lamb was selected, less often - beef.
Physiog roasted on iron and wooden skewers (uæhst) over hot charcoal (arty tsækhæryl).
Some of the viscera are also used for physiognomy, especially the lungs, then the liver and kidneys.
One of these pieces of meat is cut into pieces, which are wrapped with a layer of omentum, put on a skewer and then fried.
This is a ritual fizonæg.
He usually appears when pronouncing the initial toast at a feast. Taking a skewer with such a physison in his left hand, and a glass in his right, the elder makes a particularly solemn toast.
After pronouncing a toast, the skewer with barbecue is passed to the younger ones.
Ossetians also fried barbecue in a cauldron (adzhi fizonæg).
This fizonæg was prepared from fresh meat, immediately after a ram or a bull (but not a sacrificial one) was slaughtered. It was usually presented to those who cut and skinned the sacrificial animal (kusartgændzhitæn).
All known food patterns include intoxicating drinks.
Among the Ossetians, all ritual meals were accompanied by the use of beer (bægæny) - the oldest of the drinks known back in the Scythian era. It played a central role in religious magic ceremonies.
Making beer is a complex and lengthy process that requires virtuoso art.
The peeled mature barley was soaked, germinated, turned into an enzyme-rich product.
The crushed malt was poured with water and a wort was obtained, which was filtered and boiled with hops.
Filtered from hops and chilled, the wort is mixed with yeast, after which the main fermentation process begins.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the famous Russian scientist G.Yu. Klaproth, during a trip to the Caucasus, noted the advantages of Ossetian beer: “ Ossetian beer - the best in the whole Caucasus and reminds
Ree provided a good brew, English porter.
Several bottles of it were sent to Prince Potemkin in St. Petersburg, who found it so good that he ordered the Ossetian brewers.”
The special prestige of beer and its comparison with spirituality, courage and abundance can be traced in a special "Prayer of those who ferment beer":
"Be prepared with your hands
Nart mistress of Satan!
The honor of Sidamon will be your honor,
Alguz's courage will be your courage,
Abundance of Cusagon - abundance is yours!
Get it clean
Who were you prepared for?
Like fat, be good
Who will drink you.
For the good of you, my work will go!
I don't have much of your glory."
A feature of ritual libations was the indispensable filling of the vessel.
The full cup was the symbol of all rites and ideas connected with abundance; expressed the idea of wealth and prosperity.
Ritual drinking was accompanied by the old drinking song "Take and drink it".//"Ice æy, anaz æy".
Ossetians called a special kind of beer "æluton" a fabulous food, "satisfying hunger forever."
To prepare such beer, sheep's fat tails or even whole carcasses were boiled in it.
In the historical memory of the Ossetians, the existence of an intoxicating drink made from honey "rong" has been preserved, but the method of its preparation has not reached our time.
The traditional everyday food of the Ossetians included mainly dishes from flour, dairy and vegetable products.
The most popular flour product was cornmeal churek (“narthory kærdzyn”), which was made from steeply kneaded dough in the form of round cakes.
Pre-fried chureks were baked in ashes.
Sometimes they were boiled in water ("khælt'amætæ").
Churek was consumed with cheese or fermented milk products.
From corn, barley, oatmeal, porridge soups were prepared from wheat flour, among them the following were the most common:
. hamboh - stew made from wheat flour in milk, with the addition of ghee.
It is served hot and is considered a women's or children's dish;
. blamykh
- oatmeal mixed with kvass;
. khomys
- a lump of sticky dough mixed with oatmeal and kvass;
. qalua
- a dish of dough, thickly mixed with oatmeal and kvass.
From oat flour cooked jelly - "tsymgæ".
For this flour was bred with cold water, left for a day or two, filtered and boiled.
Products made from barley malt, which had an unusual sweet taste, were common. They baked cakes (“zadyn”) and pies (“lakami”) from it.
From corn flour cooked in sour whey, porridge "syr" was prepared.
Porridge "dzærna" was cooked from grains of corn and wheat.
An important place in the nutrition of Ossetians was occupied by milk and dairy products.
high taste and nutritional properties different Ossetian cheese prepared by fermenting milk with rennet.
Made from fresh salted cheese gourmet dish Ossetian cuisine - dzykka.
Cheese melted in a cast-iron cauldron was kneaded with flour and boiled until a porridge-like mass was formed and oil was released.
This dish was considered feminine.
Milk whey was also used in food.
In the summer, a soft drink was prepared from it. "huyrkhdon".
Butter was prepared from milk using wooden churns or leather skinskins.
He was preferred to be melted down.
After whipping the butter, the fermented milk mass remained, from which the curd was prepared.
Misyn was eaten with bread or churek.
Made from it kefir ("kypyty misyn") , mainly in the uplands.
It was used as a nourishing and refreshing drink.
Kefir was made from cow's or sheep's milk.
In order to ferment milk and get kefir from it, fungi (kjæpytæ) were “revived”, poured with slightly warm boiled water and kept in it for a day.
After that, the fungi were taken out and then transferred to milk. Usually each mountain family had a supply of these fungi in dried form or in sourdough.
Ossetian everyday drinks include kvass ("kuymæl") and Braga ("mahsymæ") .
Kvass was made from coarsely ground barley or millet with the addition of malt and yeast.
This is a drink fast food that does not require long fermentation.
Braga differs from kvass in that it undergoes fermentation and therefore contains a certain percentage of alcohol.
In pre-revolutionary times, in the mountainous regions of the Caucasus, in particular, in Ossetia, the fruit and vegetable component in the diet was represented mainly by wild-growing edible plants.
They were an essential source of vitamins, mineral salts, other necessary elements of biologically valuable nutrition.
Some fruits, berries, nuts and herbs were consumed raw, others were boiled, baked, dried and salted.
The mass migration of Ossetians to the plains and the subsequent development of bourgeois forms of economy contributed to the growth of ethno-cultural contacts with neighboring peoples. The process of interaction of cultures affected all spheres of everyday life and was reflected in food.
She enriched herself with the products of field cultivation and horticulture.
There were more fruits and vegetables on the table.
We started baking pies with various herbal and vegetable additives ( "kartofjin" - with mashed potatoes and soft cheese "tsækhærajyn" - with chopped beet tops and soft cheese, "kabuskadzhyn" - with stewed cabbage and bow "nasjin" - with pumpkin and onions, etc.).
The potato became an important food item.
It was used not only as an independent dish, but also became an ingredient in traditional types of food, in particular, pies with potato stuffing- kartofgyntæ.
Such types of vegetable crops as beans (khædur), pumpkin (nas), cabbage (kabuska), radish (bulk), beetroot (tsækhæra), etc., also became part of some traditional dishes.
The tradition of harvesting vegetables and fruits for the winter was further developed.
This vegetable component of food reflects its superstrate layer.
Kanukova Zalina
The diversity and originality of Caucasian cuisine is widely known. But it is divided into subgroups according to the territories where certain people live. For example, Avar cuisine may differ somewhat from Ingush cuisine, although the same cooking technologies are used there and there. So the Ossetian cuisine has its own characteristics, which are worth talking about.
Features and traditions of Ossetian cuisine
Its formation was influenced by the very origin of today's Ossetians. Researchers are not surprised by the main eating habits of this people. If we remember that the history of Ossetian cuisine is closely connected with the history of the people themselves, much becomes clear. After all, the ancestors of the Alans by origin belonged to the Scythian-Sarmatians, that is, they were nomadic tribes.
Like all nomadic peoples, they did not have the opportunity to engage in agriculture, but they actively used meat for food. Therefore, it is meat that still forms the basis of the entire cuisine.
The territory of modern Ossetia was inhabited by the Scythians-Alans at the very beginning of the first millennium of our era. Despite the fact that now they were able to lead a sedentary lifestyle, meat remained in their diet in the first place. Over time, pastry-based dishes joined the meat dishes.
To date, the following main trends in the Ossetian meal can be distinguished:
- Meat and flour dishes are the base on which the whole National cuisine.
- Seasonings and spices are used, for the most part, not imported, but those that grow in Ossetia itself.
- So many dishes use cheese (another animal product).
- For most dishes, the meat is not ground or chopped, but cut into large pieces.
- The main task of cooking is to create tasty, not too fatty and at the same time very satisfying dishes.
- Among drinks, special attention is paid to the production of local beer, which is famous far beyond Ossetia.
Despite the fact that almost all dishes do not require special cooking skills and are created using local, not imported, products, you can try real Ossetian dishes exclusively in.
Pork is practically not found here; beef or lamb are used as food for meat. This is due to local animal husbandry traditions. Meat is boiled in cauldrons, and ready meal often served spicy sauces and lots of greens.
Talking about the features, one cannot fail to mention another very important part of the national cuisine - the famous ones. Without a doubt, everyone in Russia heard about them. Even people who are far from know that Ossetia is famous for its famous pies with many fillings.
If in the old days they were filled almost always only with meat, today you can find a pie stuffed with cottage cheese, potatoes, pumpkin. Connoisseurs say that a completely simple-looking pie with beet tops has an amazing taste. And, of course, cheese - this product is very often used as a filling.
The most popular Ossetian dishes
To understand what is attractive national dishes, it is worth giving a few recipes of Ossetian cuisine. Despite the fact that they use simple products, the dishes themselves are unusually tasty and varied. Ossetians also cook soups (from lamb, beef, chicken), and cereals (rice, corn, with cheese and sour cream), and snacks (where eggs, cheese, potatoes are used), and, of course, pies and pilaf.
Lyvzha (chicken and sour cream soup)
A very popular dish that does not require special cooking skills and is often served in restaurants. All components of this soup are prepared separately. The boiled chicken is taken out of the broth, the potatoes are boiled and mashed in a separate bowl, the onions are fried in a pan.
Then in chicken bouillon add all the ingredients mentioned, as well as sour cream and spices. However, often housewives prefer to serve chicken separately with soup. This tradition is typical of serving many - the meat here is not left in the broth, but laid out on a separate dish.
Lamb with potatoes (lyvzha)
None can do without it festive table. Such lamb is being prepared in a cauldron. First, pieces of lamb are fried in it, then onions are separately sautéed in the same fat with tomato sauce and spices. Then pour the onion with broth and only after that put the meat again. The dish is stewed under the lid, and during the cooking process, coarsely chopped potatoes are added there. The peculiarity of this dish is in seasonings: you need to put crushed garlic and thyme in it.
Famous Ossetian pies
There is a wide variety of pies, mostly they differ in filling, but almost every one contains fresh homemade cheese and cheese, consider the most common of them:
By old recipes he prepared from yeast-free dough on milk, but now also used yeast dough for making a pie. The filling is prepared from ground beef with garlic, onion and seasonings with the addition of broth. Two cakes are rolled out of the dough, then minced meat is applied to the bottom one, the top one covers the filling, the edges are pinched.
The cake is baked in a preheated oven for 7-10 minutes. The peculiarity of it and other pies is that the dough must be rolled out quite thinly, no more than 3-5 mm. Holes are cut on the cake that is being prepared for the top crust - this allows the fudge to breathe in the oven and bake better.
- Ualibakh. The dough is prepared according to the same recipe as for fijin, in principle, as for all other pies. The filling is made from cheese and milk.
- Tsakharajin. The filling for this type consists of beet leaves, pickled cheese (if the cheese is very salty, then it is better to soak it in water), herbs and sour cream.
- Kartofgin. The composition of the filling includes potatoes, it is the main ingredient, as well as cheese, butter and milk.
- Nashjin. For this pie, the filling is made from pumpkin, onion and spices.
Pies are a real ritual dish for Ossetians. They are a must for every holiday. Moreover, three pies are placed on the banquet table at once, which become symbols of God, the Earth and the Sun. By the way, if the table is not festive, but commemorative, then there are only two pies instead of three on it.
Another ritual dish is three ribs of an animal that was slaughtered for a feast. This dish consists of three ribs cut in a whole piece from the right side of the animal and fried over an open fire. Often these ribs are served directly on three symbolic pies and offered to older and respected people present at the table.
It is rather difficult to tell about all the diversity and richness of Ossetian cuisine in one article. In the future, we will introduce you to even more Ossetian recipes.
AT holiday kitchen the peoples of Asia are necessarily present. It is prepared by women, skillfully kneading the dough, and then baked in the oven. But, fortunately, this amazingly generous dish can be easily baked in a conventional oven. Looking at the fragrant ruddy pie, it is impossible to imagine that it is prepared so quickly and so easily! Well, how do you stay...
Editorial "So simple!" shares a recipe for a colorful cake that you will be happy to cook all summer long!
Ossetian cheese pie
Dough Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. flour
- 250 ml kefir
- 50 g butter
- 7 g dry yeast
- 0.5 tsp salt
Filling Ingredients
- 200 g cottage cheese (you can take suluguni)
- 300 g of greens to taste (parsley, dill, sorrel, beet leaves)
- 100 g sour cream
- 50 g butter
Cooking
Ossetian is a very tasty dish, although there are more than enough calories in it. But the ruddy crust and juicy stuffing definitely look attractive. Great pie!
A fan of painting, especially Monet and Klimt. She loves cinema, appreciates music on vinyl. Architecture and sculpture - what inspires an inquisitive person around the clock! Christina is engaged in the study of digital technologies for prosthetics in dentistry. The girl chooses minimalism and simplicity both in the interior and in life. An inspiring mountain view and Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea are exactly what our charming author needs to be happy!
Greetings, dear reader, everyone knows that food for any person, regardless of his place of residence and nationality, is the most necessary thing in his life and therefore Ossetian cuisine with its national recipe traditions in cooking and eating has a rather strong influence on the life of a modern inhabitant of the Caucasus .
The most important factor in health is its quantity and quality, the range of foods consumed and, of course, the regularity of food intake.
Since ancient times, the main food of the Ossetians was boiled meat and bread products, which, as a rule, were prepared from cornmeal.
The national cuisine of Ossetia appeared back in those days when the ancient state of the nomadic peoples, the Alans, arose and gradually began to develop on earth, which later became the progenitor of modern Ossetians within its established geographical boundaries.
Their nomadic ancestors lived in difficult and sometimes difficult conditions in mountainous areas, where it was quite difficult to hunt for prey, so in most cases they were engaged in cattle breeding and farming.
In addition to a source of subsistence, farmed livestock and the fruits of agriculture served them as a monetary unit.
Therefore, their food was scarce, and the assortment food products was small. Alans rarely ate Ossetian meat, only on major holidays or during national ceremonies. 
The basis of their food was mainly corn churek, washed down with sour milk, brewed with beer or ordinary spring water.
They allowed themselves to cook meat only for special occasions- a birth or commemoration, where a huge carcass of a large-horned animal was cooked on an open fire in a large camping cauldron. Hence, the dishes of Ossetian cuisine were quite monotonous.
Fundamental principles of Ossetian cuisine
Over the years, a person has accumulated his life experience in growing and processing food, thereby changing and enriching his diet, and with it his national cuisine. 
And today the national Ossetian table adheres to its traditions. When serving dishes, as a rule, they begin to arrange them from the head of the table, where the senior toastmaster, respected by all, sits, whose task is to lead the table, so the head and neck of the boiled animal always stand next to it.
Like all national cuisines, Ossetian cuisine did not develop separately from other peoples. However, the culinary of each nation still retains its own national traditions inherent only to it.
So in Ossetian cuisine you can find various Caucasian dishes, and Ossetian pies, which are considered the most delicious in the Caucasus, are today on the tables of many other peoples of our country.
The modern cuisine of Ossetia, like the cuisines of other peoples, has expanded its range, enriching it with its national, unique spices, giving many dishes a taste and aroma characteristic of Ossetian cuisine.
Ossetian national cuisine currently does not stand still and is changing, for example, if earlier Ossetian pies were made from unleavened dough mixed with water or whey, now they prepare dough for pies in milk or kefir, adding margarine and eggs to it.
This, in turn, affects the taste of pies and allows for more long time preserve their splendor and freshness, and many meat dishes have also changed their recipes. 
Ossetians, like many peoples of the Caucasus, love to cook fragrant barbecue for which there are countless recipes.
Traditional dishes of Ossetian cuisine
The main dish of Ossetian cuisine at all times has been and remains boiled fresh meat of beef or lamb, sometimes poultry - chicken or duck. It is boiled whole and served on the table on a large tray.
The meat was always served with fresh herbs and always different spicy sauces with pepper and garlic, as well as bitter capsicum and wild garlic on sour cream or broth. Until now, the most popular meat dish of the Caucasus is considered to be a delicious shish kebab. 
In Ossetian cuisine, triangular and round pies made from wheat flour with the addition of corn flour are widely used. different stuffing, the number of which depends on the purpose of the table. As a rule, it was customary to serve three round pies on a large dish.
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As a few appetizers on a generous Ossetian table, in most cases Ossetian cheese, amazing in taste, is served, and as national salad healthy fresh radish, seasoned sunflower oil with salt on aromatic herbs.
As light snack can be served eggplant with cheese or walnuts seasoned with garlic milk sauce.
The first dish of any cuisine is liquid soups, therefore, in Ossetian cuisine, such a dish is bean soup from beef or lamb on the bone with potatoes, onions and fresh herbs, or soup with rice or homemade noodles cooked in chicken broth. 
Second traditional dish Ossetian cuisine is often a stew of young lamb with potatoes and onions seasoned hot pepper, garlic and spicy thyme. A second course is also prepared with poultry meat, where chicken or duck is cooked in pots with vegetables, aromatic spices and garlic.
The unique aroma and amazing taste of this Ossetian-style poultry dish will delight even the most sophisticated gourmet.
Lamb pilaf or veal cabbage rolls served with sour milk sauce cooked on kefir or whey can also be on your table as a second course. Most often, this pilaf is cooked in a large cauldron with a thick bottom.
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The most famous pastry of Ossetian cuisine, replacing bread, is the traditional corn churek with cheese, cooked in the form of a flat cake and stored for a long time.
Mountaineers of Ossetia eat this main baked delicacy hot when it emits its unique bread aroma. Its simplicity of recipe and speed of preparation has gained worldwide fame.
Famous Ossetian pies
Perhaps there is no such person who has visited at least once and has not tasted real Ossetian pies with homemade beer. The multinational republic with its cuisine is distinguished by a wide variety of dishes with an unforgettable taste.
All this diversity is expressed in famous recipes Ossetian pie, the history of which is reflected in the centuries-old folk tales of the inhabitants of the North Caucasus. 
Three Ossetian pies, lying in one portion on a large dish, have not only culinary, but also ritual significance, as they symbolize the trinity of the universe - the sun, water and earth.
Properly Cooked Ossetian pie has a thin layer of dough and a large amount of filling, and the master in its preparation is considered to be the master who can cook the thinnest pie in the oven in a large frying pan, served with the main dishes instead of bread.
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As such a filling can usually be:
- mashed boiled potatoes with milk,
- soft pickled Ossetian cheese,
- crushed beet leaves,
- stewed cabbage with hot peppers,
- finely chopped wild garlic leaves,
- boiled beans with tail fat,
- chopped boiled pumpkin.
The leader of culinary art among the pies of Ossetia, which conquered the world's gourmets, is considered the popular meat pie with ground beef.
During cooking in the middle meat delicacy a small hole or incisions are made to let the steam out, and after baking it is smeared with a considerable piece of butter. Such a pie is served on the table exclusively hot.
Ossetian culinary masterpieces
The most delicious sweetness of Caucasian cooking is crispy brushwood sprinkled with honey, as well as white small dough balls cooked in melted butter and sprinkled with powdered sugar, these sweet desserts are liked by both adults and children.
As dessert dish the Ossetian table is served with sweet pies popular in many cuisines, where the filling can be apples, lemons or cherries.
For residents of not only the Caucasus, but also other regions of our country, homemade Ossetian beer, prepared with the addition of a small amount of honey, is a special drink that has a dark rich color and exquisite taste. 
Along with Ossetian cheese and famous pies, many nutrition experts have recognized Ossetian beer as one of the best drinks in the world.
Another low-alcohol drink, common in Ossetia, made from grain plants - corn and barley for big holidays and commemoration is araka, the average strength of which is 25 degrees.
In the mountainous regions of the small Republic of North Ossetia in the Caucasus, with its small hospitable people, Ossetian cuisine, widely known outside the republic, which is small in area and population, still remains unchanged and retains its centuries-old traditions. 
Of course, modern civilization has deeply penetrated into the life of the Ossetian people. The form of serving dishes to the table has also changed. Ossetian tables are now served strictly according to the rules of etiquette.
Therefore, despite the fact that everything changes very quickly in modern cooking, the traditional Ossetian table remains unchanged, without losing its national flavor, where always in North Ossetia the main dish at any feast will be the same - three pies, chicken and a jug of brewed homemade Ossetian beer. Bon appetit and stay healthy!
And those who are interested in the numerous recipes of Ossetian cuisine, I invite you to visit sunny mountain Ossetia in order to taste all these national culinary masterpieces.
And that's all for today and thank you for your attention, my precious reader. I hope you enjoyed my article about traditional Caucasian dishes of Ossetian cuisine. Now you know what culinary masterpieces can be seen on the tables of generous Ossetians, their cooking recipes.
Maybe you have already tried them, then express your opinion about it in the comment to the article, I will be interested to read it. Allow me to say goodbye to you on this and until we meet again, dear friends.
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Food is an essential part of a life support culture. The traditional food of the Ossetians was prepared from products produced in the conditions of agricultural and cattle breeding (grain and meat and dairy) economy. A small portion of the diet Ossetian were products of gathering and hunting. In the mountainous regions, the vegetable and vegetable component was represented insignificantly, wild plants became a source of vitamins and other biologically necessary nutrients.
Food in science is usually divided into everyday and ritual (which, in turn, is divided into festive, funeral and memorial, sacrificial), as well as prestigious and non-prestigious.
The traditional everyday food of the Ossetians included mainly dishes and food from flour, dairy and vegetable products.
It is customary to call a dish a product that is not intended for storage and is ready to eat without any additional processing(for example: soup, porridge, etc.). Snow allows more or less long-term storage(for example: cheese, bread, etc.).
Flour food. From everyday flour products churek should be isolated from cornmeal ("narthors kærdzyn"). As Kosta Khetagurov noted, a corn cake with a piece of cheese or a cup of whey, bread kvass, or even just spring water was usually lunch and dinner for an adult Ossetian.
Wheat flour in Ossetia was used for cooking holiday pies with various fillings. Bread made from wheat flour was rare. yeast wheat bread called "ænkhizænjin".
An important role in the Ossetian cuisine was played by oats, from which the three most popular dishes among the people were prepared: "bylamykh", "khomys" and "qælua". To make these dishes, oats in grain were previously boiled, dried and ground: the flour was sifted and served on the table. In the first case, flour was served in one cup, and kvass was poured into another. Each was given the opportunity to dilute "bylamykh" to your liking. A lump of sticky dough from the same parts, pre-crumpled - "khomys". Finally, the same dough, but more steep and crumbly - "qælua".
To the named types of food according to the method of preparation and palatability adjoins a number of dishes from pre-roasted barley grains. In Ossetian folklore, the request of a knight to give him food on the road is often used, which is "easy to carry and pleasant to eat" ("khæssynæn æntson, khærynæn adjin"). Probably, in this case, it was about flour made from pre-cooked or fried cereal grains.
A type of jelly was prepared from oatmeal - "tsymgæ". To do this, the flour was diluted with cold water, left for a day or two, filtered and boiled. It turned out a jelly-like mass, which was eaten with garlic sauce("tsæhdon").
Products made from barley malt were common in Ossetia. Malt, which had an unusual taste, was one of the oldest sweets. They baked cakes ("zadyn") and pies ("lakami") from it.
Porridge was prepared from cornmeal boiled in sour whey "sire". It was usually served with melted butter. A type of dumplings ("khælt'amæ") was prepared from cornmeal. The dough was cut into pieces, thrown for half an hour or an hour into boiling vegetable soups.
Plant food. The spring-summer diet included dishes with various herbs, one of them - "tsækhæra". It was prepared from seven different herbs (nettle, quinoa, etc.), which were boiled, finely chopped. Then the greens were added to sour cream along with raw eggs and cornmeal and boiled. In the spring, pies were often baked stuffed with fresh cheese and wild garlic (wild onion) - "dawonjin".
The resettlement of Ossetians from the mountains to the plains led to the fact that the everyday food of the Ossetians was enriched with products of field cultivation and gardening. There were more fruits and vegetables on the table. We started baking pies with various herbal and vegetable additives ( "kartofjin"- with mashed potatoes and soft cheese, "tsækhærajyn"- with chopped beet tops and soft cheese, "kabuskadzhyn"- with stewed cabbage and onions, "nasjin"- with pumpkin and onions, etc.).
Dairy food. An important place in the nutrition of Ossetians was occupied by milk and its products. ("ursag"). Among them, Ossetian cheese should be distinguished. ("tsikht"), characterized by high taste and nutritional properties. By fermenting milk with rennet ("ahsæn") two types of cheese were prepared: fresh soft cheese ("fælmæn tsikht") and hard salted cheese("khæbder tsikht"). Hard cheese was either stored in a barrel with brine ("khændydzhi tsikht") or dried ("hus tsikht"). Soft cheese served as a filling for making pies, and hard - was a meal. Harvesting of hard cheese usually took place in late summer and early autumn. It was stored under pressure in tubs with whey brine. ("suardzæhdon") and required careful maintenance. After obtaining the cheese, whey remained, which was consumed fresh. ("syly"), and sour ("khuyrh") form.
A type of porridge was prepared from fresh salted cheese - "zykka". To do this, the cheese was thrown into a cauldron with a small amount of water, adding a little wheat flour, continuously stirred with a wooden spatula in one direction and heated until the mass began to stretch into long threads and release oil. A porridge similar in taste was also prepared from sour cream ("tsarvækhsidæn"). In the old days, these dishes were considered an honorable female treat, although men were not forbidden to eat them.
Butter was made from milk in special churns ("huylæg") or leather skinskins ("lalym"). Whipped fresh butter ("nælkhæ", "garachchi") Ossetians melted and got melted butter ("tsarv"), which could be stored for a long time.
After whipping the butter, the sour-milk mass remained - churning ("Misson"), from which, in turn, they could cook cottage cheese ("kjædor").
Meat food. Meat dishes were few. Ossetians preferred meat cooked without any seasonings ("kuydyrfykh dzidza"), as well as fried on fire ("physonæg").
Beef stews were considered prestigious dishes ("lyvæ") and chicken ("karchy tsurd"). Boiled chicken was cut into small pieces, thrown into a cauldron with cream seasoned with aromatic herbs, pepper and brought to a boil.
Few people, Kosta Khetagurov noted in his essay "Person", managed to prepare tasty smoked meats from lamb, beef and excellent game (tour, deer, chamois, fallow deer) for the winter. Several types of sausages were prepared from the insides, more typical for the autumn-winter diet. ("rud", "dzormæ").
Ossetian everyday food could also include meat, chicken and vegetable soups seasoned with various spices. They were always served at the end of a meal.
Everyday drinks. The daily drinks of Ossetians include milk and whey (fresh - "syly", sour - "huyrkh"), kvass ("kuymæl") and mash ("mahsymæ"). Ancient fermented milk drinks include kefir, fermented by means of fungi ("kypytymisyn") and skim milk churning ("Misson").
Braga differs from kvass in that it is given more time to ferment, and therefore it contains a certain percentage of alcohol. Braga was sometimes mixed with honey. The preparation of these two drinks is the same: coarsely ground barley or millet is kneaded in water, boiled, and then fermented. Malt and yeast are used as fermentation agents. Second-rate beer can also be attributed to everyday drinks. ("kamattag").
