Circassian cuisine

Traditional Circassian house and cuisine

Circassian cuisine is an ethnic cuisine, based on the cooking style and traditions of the Circassian people of the North Caucasus. This region lies between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, within European Russia.

Traditional dishes

Haliva (Хьэлжъо) and mataz (Мэтазэ), two of the prominent traditional Circassian snacks
Circassian creamy lamb stew (Щатэ лыбжъ)
Shipsi (шыпсы; Circassian gravy) & Chicken

Circassian cuisine consists of many different traditional dishes, varying by season. The summer time traditional dishes are mainly dairy products and vegetables. In winter and spring, the traditional dishes mostly consist of flour and meat. Traditional dishes include ficcin, seasoned chicken or turkey with sauce, boiled mutton and beef with a seasoning of sour milk along with salt and crushed garlic.

Among the many varieties of cheese in the North Caucasus, Circassian cheese is the most popular one.

On holidays, the Adyghe people traditionally make haliva (хьэлжъо) from toasted millet or wheat flour.

In the Levant, there is a widely–recognized Circassian dish known as tajen alsharkaseiah.

Fresh meat dishes (Lisch'em qixasch'ich' shxinighwexer)

Dried and smoked meat dishes (Li gheghwamre gheghwpts'amre qixasch'ich' shxinighwexer)

Shashlik

Poultry and egg dishes (Jedqazimre jedich'emre qixasch'ich' shxinighwexer)

Fish dishes (Bdzezchey shxinighwexer)

Dairy product dishes

Flour, cereal and navy-bean dishes

Potato and gourd dishes (Ch'ert'of, qeb shxinighwexer)

Beverages

Sweets and desserts

Dried pears

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Jaimoukha, Amjad, ed. (2004). Circassian Cuisine. Amman, Jordan: Sanjalay Press.
  2. ↑ Circassian cuisine. YouTube.
  3. ↑ www.circassianworld.com/AdygheCuisine.pdf
  4. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). www.circassianworld.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ↑ YouTube
  6. ↑ Yolkolu Öksüz, Ayça (March 2018). Geleneksel Çerkes Mutfağı: Hüzün Aş Olunca [Traditional Circassian Cuisine: When Sorrow Becomes a Meal] (in Turkish) (1st ed.). Yediveren Yayınları. p. 232. ISBN 978-605-978-069-8.
  7. ↑ Yolkolu Öksüz, Ayça (March 2018). Geleneksel Çerkes Mutfağı: Hüzün Aş Olunca [Traditional Circassian Cuisine: When Sorrow Becomes a Meal] (in Turkish) (1st ed.). Yediveren Yayınları. p. 232. ISBN 978-605-978-069-8.
  8. ↑ "Traditional foods of the North Caucasus region", Nutritional and Health Aspects of Traditional and Ethnic Foods of Eastern Europe, Academic Press, pp. 69–91, 2022-01-01, doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-811734-7.00001-3, retrieved 2026-03-06
  9. ↑ Katchieva, Palina Kh; Katchieva, Khalimat Kh; Kipkeeva, Fairuza I; Kharaeva, Zaira F; Smeianov, Vladimir V (2025-12-20). "Kefir revisited: Insights from the North Caucasus". World Journal of Experimental Medicine. 15 (4). doi:10.5493/wjem.v15.i4.112191. ISSN 2220-315X. PMC 12767251. PMID 41497673.
  10. ↑ Yıldırım, Büşra Elem; Oğan, Yener (2024-09-01). "Kuzey Kafkasya Bölgesi Toplumlarının Mutfak Kültürleri Üzerine Bir İnceleme". Artvin Çoruh Üniversitesi Uluslararası Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi (in Turkish). 10 (Kafkasya Araştırmaları Özel Sayısı): 36–54. doi:10.22466/acusbd.1505842. ISSN 2458-8385.
  11. ↑ Usta, Sevim; Yaman, Melek (2020). "Çerkes Mutfağının Sürdürülebilirliği Üzerine Bir Araştırma: Sakarya İli Örneği (A Research on Sustainability of Circassian Kitchen: Sakarya City Example)". Journal of Tourism & Gastronomy Studies (in Turkish). 8 (2): 997–1015. doi:10.21325/jotags.2020.592. ISSN 2147-8775.