Grilled Skewers · Open-Flame

Shashlik (Шашлык)

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Legend traces skewer-grilling on the steppe back to horsemen said to have cooked meat on their swords over open fires.

Shashlik is meat — usually lamb, beef, or chicken — marinated in onions and simple spices, threaded onto long metal skewers, and grilled over hot charcoal until charred at the edges. It's sold everywhere from roadside stalls to bazaar grills.

Why it's made this way: Kazakhstan's nomadic herding history made skewer-grilling over open coals the fastest, most fuel-efficient way to cook meat outdoors, and that same logic carries straight into today's roadside grills.