Turkmen cuisine

Melons

In the culinary arena, Turkmenistan is perhaps most famous for its melons, especially in the former Soviet Union, where it was once the major supplier. Though very few melons are exported today, they are a great source of national pride in Turkmenistan and subject of their own Melon Day holiday. Turkmen sources claim the country is home to up to 400 distinct varieties.

Bread

Meals are almost always served with naan, Central Asian flat bread, known locally as çörek. Turkmen bread is prepared differently from other breads in the region in thick, round disc-shaped loaves baked in a traditional tamdyr clay oven. Bread has a high symbolic importance in Turkmen culture, and it is considered highly impolite to turn a loaf of bread upside down or to mistreat bread in any way. There are many superstitions based around bread and its preparation. Bread baked with meat inside (etli çörek, or "meat bread") can be consumed as a meal in itself. Ýagly çörek (literally "oily bread") is a flaky, layered type of flat bread made with butter.

Beverages

As in the rest of Central Asia, green tea is the primary drink, consumed at all hours. In the Turkmen language, "chai" (tea) can refer to eating a meal or sitting down for a visit. In the Dashoguz region, it is sometimes drunk "Kazakh-style" with milk, often to disguise the salty taste of the drinking water in that area.

Gatyk, a thick drinking yogurt similar to kefir, is often served with breakfast and sometimes used as a condiment on börek or manti, replacing the traditional sour cream. The drink the nation is known for, however, is chal, a fermented camel's milk, which is a white sparkling beverage that has a sour flavour and is popular in Central Asia, particularly in Turkmenistan. Because of specific preparation requirements and it being extremely perishable, chal presents a great challenge for importers to ship outside Turkmenistan or the region for foreign consumption. It is similar to the Kyrgyz drink shoro. One source notes that Turkmens like to get agaran (a type of butter) from the surface of chal.

Alcoholic beverages

Vodka is the most popular alcoholic beverage, due to its low cost, followed by beer, wine, brandy, and sparkling wine (Russian: шампанское/shampanskoye).