Among the 10th-century Oghuz Turks, meals are taken around the dastarkhan, a felt or leather cloth spread on the floor of the yurt. There is no starter or dessert in the sedentary sense: first, fermented drink (kımız) is served, then meat (et, the central dish and sign of hospitality), accompanied by flatbread. Travel provisions — dried cheeses, dried meat — form a separate category, the azık, the rider's viaticum. The festive banquet (toy) follows the same order but in prodigal quantities, with choice cuts offered to honored guests.

The fat from the tail of the fat-tailed sheep (kurdiuk) is the cardinal ingredient of nomadic Turkish cuisine. It serves as cooking fat, preservative, and condiment. Its rich, slightly tallowy flavor permeates every meat dish. Among the Oghuz, the size of the sheep's tail is an indicator of the herd's wealth.