Crimean Tatar cuisine
Despite the challenges faced by the Crimean Tatars, they have managed to preserve their identity and traditions, including their cuisine. Their culinary history is significant, and their dishes often attract interest in this people's culture and traditions.
Crimean Tatar dishes
Crimean Tatar cuisine is highly diverse. One of its features is unusual combinations of flavours, such as rice pilaf with dried raisins. Meat was often cooked with fruit. Such dishes may seem strange even for Crimean Tatars, as these traditions are ancient.
"My favourite childhood dish is called makarne or makarna. It's a dough my mother used to make, and then she would mould small pasta from it pressing her palms together. We would pour melted butter and sprinkle nuts on top. It was very tasty,"
says Nadzhiie Ametova.
Kemal Seitveliiev, co-owner of the Musafir chain of Crimean Tatar restaurants, says his favourite dish is manty with potatoes (huge and tasty potato dumplings — ed). They are made in a special way, with the potatoes left uncooked and added raw to the dough. Crimean Tatar cuisine is also represented by chebureki ( deep-fried turnovers with a filling of ground or minced meat and onions — ed.). In addition to the traditional combination with meat, they were made with potatoes, cheese, mint, and dill. The whole family often joined in the cooking, and each family made chebureki in their own way.
For those who want to try Crimean Tatar cuisine for the first time, Nadzhiie Ametova recommends kubete, a pie with meat and potatoes. The recipe for this dish can also vary from family to family: everyone uses different dough and ways of decorating the top. Kubete is not only delicious but also quite representative.
As for desserts, a traditional Crimean Tatar dish is kabakly sarburma — pumpkin mixed with sugar and nuts, put into puff pastry and baked. Nadzhiie Ametova recalls that her family used to serve it with chopped pumpkin, butter and honey.
How was Musafir founded?
Kemal Seitveliiev says that the idea of opening a Crimean Tatar restaurant originated in Crimea (Qırım) when the owners realised that there were many tourists but no such restaurant. The owners managed to find a small place near the Khan's Palace in Bağçasaray, and the whole family was involved in building and developing the restaurant. Within a few years, the restaurant gained popularity in Crimea and, by 2014, had become one of the best.
"At that time, Musafir was one of the best restaurants in Crimea. I remember when I first came there, I noticed that everything was Crimean Tatar. Now it all looks so natural to us, but back then, there was nothing like this in Crimea,"
recalls Nadzhiie Ametova.
Right after the occupation of Crimea by the Russians in 2014, the institution ceased to exist there and was coincidentally reopened in Kyiv.
Musafir as a part of Crimea in Kyiv
Currently, there are three Musafir restaurants in Kyiv. The first opened in 2014. Kemal Seitveliiev recalls that the search for premises was a challenging phase. In addition, the events of 2014 were not very conducive to the development of the restaurant business, there were great risks and fears.
When the restaurant opened, five people worked in the kitchen, two of them from Crimea. Despite the challenges and hardships that the restaurant team went through during the first three to four months of operation, the restaurant has gained popularity because there is a demand for Crimean Tatar cuisine in Kyiv. Kemal Seitveliiev says that on its second day of operation, the number of visitors to Musafir far exceeded the team's expectations.
The name of the restaurant means "guest". In this way, the founders showed that every guest is important to the restaurant. In addition, the idea of Musafir in Kyiv is not just about the cuisine. Initially, the owners wanted Musafir in Kyiv to become a part of Crimea, a place where both Crimean Tatars and those interested in the culture and history of this people could gather. Now the restaurants host concerts and play Crimean Tatar music. Thus, cuisine is becoming the key to understanding the entire Crimean Tatar culture.
Similarities between Crimean Tatar cuisine and others
Every national cuisine is shaped by the history and connections of one people with others. The Crimean Tatar cuisine was significantly influenced by the deportation. Certain dishes, such as manty, pilaf, lagman, are considered Crimean Tatar, however, they are actually borrowed from places where Crimean Tatars were deported, in particular from Uzbekistan.
Many Crimean Tatar dishes are present in Ukrainian cuisine but may have different names. For example, Crimean Tatar alushki is the equivalent of Ukrainian dumplings, or Crimean Tatar pacha resembles hot jelly. Ukrainian cuisine also includes some no longer prepared Crimean Tatar dishes. However, this connection is not surprising or unnatural. Since Crimea is part of Ukraine, Crimean Tatar cuisine is also part of Ukrainian cuisine.
