Khakass food and people

Today we went to a gathering in the morning. It was mostly Russians, but there was one Khakass family there. Afterwards we went to their house for lunch. They live in a city of 20,000 but they still have many animals- goats and hens and a rooster. Lunch was a fairly basic affair and mostly Russian in the choice of dishes. The one on the left is called пелмени Pelmeni. It is related to the Chinese Wan Ton. It is a very common Russian dish- meat dumplings in pastry, which are then boiled. They can be eaten with or without their soup. Pelmeni can often be eaten with a sour cream called сметана smetana. It can also be eaten with a variety of other sauces including mayonnaise or ketchup. (Кетчуп Ketchup is Russian for tomato sauce; for you Aussies reading this.)
The cucumbers in the back are pickled. Russians pickle a variety od vegetables that they grow in the Summer time, including tomatoes, which taste like vinegar bombs. The dish in the front is authentically Khakass. It is finely ground wheat mixed with oil and sugar. It is dry to the mouth but tastes quite fine. It is to be eaten while drinking tea.



After lunch we went to the house of some Russians. The man on the left wants to live with the reindeer herders. Before he married le already lived in the forest for 7 years. The man on the right has been involved in key translation work into Khakass, Tuvan, Altai and Shor. We watched the Transformations 2 story of the Inuit in northern Canada and how they have been set free from their suffering- alcoholism and sexual abuse. If you have not seen Transformations 2, I highly encourage you to do so.



The city of Abaza is neatly nestled in a mountain valley, which makes it a difficult place to drive into. We had to drive through many windy roads to get there.



Another Khakass couple, Volodoya and Rita, both in the family. Remember them as they learn and grow.