Several months ago my friends invited me over for a cooking class. I was excited to learn how to prepare traditional Kazakh dishes!

Since moving from New York I cook and bake often. I really enjoy it! I’ve honed my skills, as food preparation in Kazakhstan for anything other than a local dish tests one’s creativity and ability to improvise. Many ingredients are often not available.

For my cooking class we prepared traditional Kazakh foods so the shopping was easy and lucky for me, I didn’t have to do any of it. I also had no input on the menu, which adds to the experience, but can be a bit risky. And it happened… it was just my luck that two out of the three dishes we made consisted of a freshly delivered horse. Yay! When it comes to meat consumption, Kazakhs only take what they need and waste nothing. They consume everything. It’s something I respect and fundamentally believe in, but horsemeat and horse organs just don’t go down easy for me.

We prepared a horse liver salad, manti (мәнті in Kazakh), and cake (торт in Russian). Manti are steamed dumplings, usually consisting of a meat mixture filling, and topped with herbs and sautéed onions. In our case the filling was horsemeat, onions, herbs and spices. The salad was boiled liver, onions and pickles. The cake was milk and cheese based.

The salad and cake were definitely one-timers. And while preparing manti is a tedious and time consuming process starting with the dough preparation, I’ll definitely make them again. I mastered how to fold them, making individual mini sealed packages so they don’t fall apart when steamed. One thing is for sure though – I’m changing up the filling to vegetables (probably pumpkin), herbs and spices!

This entry was posted in Culture, Food by mykzadventure.

I recently took a road trip from Almaty southwest to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan where I worked with Zachary Shields to film the artists of Tumar in action. The goal was to capture the artistic process from beginning to end, illustrating the handcraft techniques employed at each step. I want the end consumer to know how their products were made, as well as who made their products. We captured a lot of footage and the short film is currently in production. It should be ready in the coming weeks. I’ll share it here and post it at tumarcrafts.com, among other places. I’m really excited about it! Below is a collection of behind-the-scenes shots of Zach filming.

It was a fantastic trip! I’ve made many trips to Bishkek to work with the artists and it continues to get better. We talk about business efficiency, design, end markets, financials, process, production and more. The people are kind and welcoming. Together we aim to learn from each other and increase sales to better their quality of life.

A highlight during this last visit was the banquet they hosted for us. We played games, sang songs (challenging, as I don’t know Kyrgyz) and ate traditional food. They make really delicious plov (think Central Asian rice pilaf). Here’s an eight-second clip I managed to capture on my iPhone of everyone singing. It doesn’t do it justice, but you’ll get the idea. Banquet sing-along

Many have asked what I do as an international strategic advisor for EXPO 2017. I do many things, but this was a project I was focused on from October until January when the summit took place. I was responsible for everything related to EXPO 2017 / Kazakhstan’s booth at the exhibition. This included the concept, structural design, contractors, interactive content, installation and construction, etc. I was the only one dedicated to this project from the National Company. I’ve never done anything like this before. I got to tap into my creative side a little bit on a professional level. It was trial by fire, but all around a great learning experience.

The EXPO 2017 Astana booth provided an exploratory introduction of the key Future Energy concepts of EXPO 2017. We wanted to create a lively and sensory experience through installations and representations that helped visitors understand the Future Energy theme of the EXPO 2017, as well as Astana’s contribution and path towards a green economy. The goal was to get visitors familiar with EXPO 2017 and entice them to want to visit.

This was an event of great importance for EXPO 2017 and Kazakhstan because it was EXPO’s first international event, and the summit goes hand-in-hand with the theme. The highest levels of government were involved and I had to present my ideas to the Ministry.

The pavilion was an overwhelming success! Out of all the pavilions (hundreds), I honestly believe that it was one of the best looking in the entire exhibition complex. (I’m not biased or anything). The atmosphere was fresh, vibrant and light and the organic bar was a hit!

I was also tasked to give tours to dignitaries including the Secretary-General of the International Energy Agency and the Chair of the World Energy Council. There was press recording our every move and I headlined the Kazakh national news! I thought this was so funny. In the news clip, I was giving a tour to the Secretary General of the IEA (former Minster of Science & Education, then the Minister of Economics of the Netherlands).

While in the UAE we also toured Masdar City, a sustainable community that serves as a model of green urban development. Below is a picture of me in driverless electric car! It was as if we traveled to the future for a day.

Hello, it’s been a while! The holidays came and went and then life got busy. The good news is that I now have a backlog of posts to publish. First up is the oh so lovely Astana winter weather.

There’s no question that it’s been a brutal winter in the US with many locations seeing its coldest temperatures in 20 years. I mostly sympathize with those getting the brunt of the ice storms. New York City hit lows of 4 degrees Fahrenheit (or -16 degrees Celsius) at the beginning of January. That’s really cold, but let me tell you, we consistently see weather in the negative 30′s and saw more than our fair share of days greater than negative 40. To the left is a snapshot of the forecast from a few weeks ago. That’s right. With the wind chill it felt like -53 degrees!

I’ve learned that around -35 it all feels the same. The key indicator that you’re in absurdly cold weather is that the inside of your nose immediately freezes when you take a breath outside. It’s a strange sensation that I have never experienced before.

Given the extent of the cold temperatures in Astana it’s not surprising that there’s also low humidity. This helps tremendously. Despite the extreme temperatures I’ve never really felt that feeling of being chilled to the bone that I felt in New York. On the other hand, the kicker that makes you want to hibernate is the wind. We have these storms called burans (it’s a Kazakh word). There’s really no direct translation in English, but it’s basically a snow-wind-ice storm in the bitter cold with gusts up to 40 mph. There’s no protection here, as we’re surrounded by steppe, and visibility is often times near zero.  Snow and cold weather are common occurrences here, but burans are what cause road, school and work closings. We’ve been in a few of those and it’s when we limit our time outside. Murphy has been lifted off the ground and I have found myself walking in place despite exerting enough effort to be at a running speed. (Check out this video of a buran in Astana. It gets good at around 1:00 minute. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYynF3I8Exk)

I often get asked how we manage in such bitter cold. Many of you also express concern for Murphy. The key is that Travis, Murphy and I each have a standard “uniform” that we wear outside and we never deviate. It’s been tried and tested and it works. I’m not one to plug products, but there are a few that have comfortably gotten us through the worst of it and are worth mentioning. They are Canada Goose jackets (worth the hype), Kombi mittens and Ruff Wear products for dogs. For dogs, the biggest areas of concern are the pads on their paws and stomachs. Murph has boots, a fleece base layer and a puff. He’s golden! He loves playing in the snow and chasing rabbits in the fields.

I’m happy to have made it through the worst of my first Astana winter and am now anxiously awaiting warmer weather. The winter season typically runs from October to April, which is way too long for me. Enough already! Bring on the heat.

Next up are two work posts: My global EXPO 2017 exhibition in Abu Dhabi and a trip to Bishkek to film the Tumar Crafts artists in action. I’m happy to be back posting!

Five months ago I announced that I had begun my first business venture. Today, I am happy to announce that Tumar Crafts is open for business!  The online store can be found at tumarcrafts.com. I have over 60 items across five product categories.

Tumar Crafts is an online boutique that aims to offer every family, child and friend unique handmade products of the highest quality that are both natural and beautiful, while preserving and celebrating cultural heritage. All products sold on Tumar Crafts are handmade by local artisans in Central Asia.

I am proud of this small business. Key to the brand I am building (and I am certain there is an audience who will appreciate it) is quality craftsmanship, all natural materials, and socially responsible practices.  And on this side of the world, I am helping to support the local economy and independent artists.

I am in the process of designing new products for the western market and will add new items as I see fit, so keep coming back to check them out. I am also very encouraged by the discussions I’ve had with other retailers around the country and their keen interest to carry my products. And I am targeting initiatives from very large retailers that put funds towards artisans, craftsmanship, small business, socially responsible, etc.

Tumar Crafts already has a presence on the major social media platforms and in the coming weeks I will setup my messaging.

I hope you really love it!

P.S. Holiday season is right around the corner and these are really fantastic gifts