I wasn’t surprised with the amount of meat and root vegetables being offered, but all of that had the making for a great meal in my eyes. We were quickly seated by the friendly staff, and I perused the menu options. We walked in, and the place was jammed for dinner. When we walked up, it was funny to see all of the cabs parked out front due to the high number of Central Asian cabdrivers in Chicago. Finally, given that Kyrgyzstan was a former Soviet republic, there would be lots of Russian dishes, and Janice’s friend’s husband is Russian, so we had our cultural “in” if we needed anything. Second, I found out that Jibek Jolu means “Silk Road” in Kyrgyz, so there were bound be plenty of dishes that combined the influences of Chinese, Indian, and Western cooking. First, I expected there to be a lot of meat given that most nomadic peoples rely on high energy meals focusing primarily on protein and dairy. While I never had this particular type of cuisine, I had a faint idea of what to expect given the geographic location of the Central Asian nation and its history. Her friend and husband raved about it, so I was curious to see what exactly Kyrgyz food consisted of. Janice and I had a double date with one of her best friends and her husband at a Kyrgyz restaurant in Chicago called Jibek Jolu. It’s one of my favorite world flags, and recently I found that Kyrgyz food is right up my alley as well. The number forty also appears in their flag in the form of a sun with forty rays and a criss-crossed center to symbolize a yurt or traditional tent the Kyrgyz sleep in. The word “Kyrgyz” in Turkic languages means “We are forty” which is a reference to the forty clans the legendary Kyrgyz hero, Manas, united to fight against the Uighurs (A predominately Muslim group that resides in what is now western China). Have you ever heard of a little place called Kyrgyzstan? While it is not as well known as its neighbor and home of Borat, Kazakhstan, or nuclear armed Pakistan, it a very interesting corner of the world with a lot of history.
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