A special “bread” brand of Kazakh gastronomic culture is “bauyrsaq”, a round or diamond-shaped doughnut. They are common among many Turkic peoples: Bashkirs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Khakass, etc. and their nearest neighbors – Tajiks.
The origin of the word comes from “bauyr” – brother, therefore bauyrsaq can be considered in symbolic meaning as union, brotherhood, unity. They are an obligatory attribute of the traditional dastarkhan. Bashkir bauyrsaq is an obligatory attribute of the wedding ceremony. Thus, the girl who got married necessarily brought a bowl of baursaqs to the groom’s relatives – they were judged by the abilities and even the character of the future daughter-in-law: if the baursaq were small, she was considered greedy, if they were big, she was considered lazy. So the baursaq should be in perfect shape. There is an interesting ritual ofthe Kyrgyz people: on the day of laying down the newborn in besik held a ceremony “boorsak chochma”: in the cradle lowered through the holes bauyrsaq with good wishes for the child.
Turkic women prepare such a variety as “shi bauyrsaq” (shi – small). They are considered a treat for children, perhaps that is why such bauyrsaq “participants” shashu ritual – showers of newlyweds with the desire for a good life and numerous offspring.
The semantic status of bauyrsaqs in Turkic culture is attested by folk legends. In the Bashkir Khan, who sought his only son a bride of thousands of competitors, married him to the daughter of a simple shepherd, who from the simplest ingredients and quickly was able to make a magical dessert – bauyrsaq. In Kazakh legend, a khan had horns and then killed all who shaved him. It was the turn of a woman who had the only son,the woman had given her son a bauyrsaq. The khan was treated with it by his son, whereupon the khan declared the barber his foster brother and did not execute him.
The Bauyrsaqs among the Kazakhs and other Turkic peoples stand in their symbolic meaning for brotherhood, unity and abundance.
