The dastarkhan is the traditional Kazakh tablecloth spread on the floor of a yurt or on a low platform. The nomadic meal does not follow a starter-main course-dessert order: first, tea, fried bread (baursak), dried dairy products (kurt, irimchik) and dried fruits are laid out. Then comes the central meat dish — beshbarmak for special occasions — always accompanied by its broth (sörpa) served separately in bowls. The hierarchy of meat cuts reflects the rank of the guests. Koumiss flows freely throughout the meal.

Sacred drink of the steppe, koumiss is the nutritional and symbolic axis of Kazakh nomadic culture. Slightly sparkling, sour and milky, it is churned for hours in a leather sack (saba) and consumed daily in summer, when mares are lactating. Abai drank it at the family table as well as at that of the ancestors of the Chingiz-Tau mountains.