I visited my old roommate Jake down in his newly rehabbed condo in the south Loop last night. On entering, I was blinded by the projector that was playing The Work of Michael Gondry on the wall next to the door. After regaining my eyesight, I was greeted by the video “Sugar Water” by Cibo Matto. I was heretofore unaware of the existence of the Director’s Label Series discs or Cibo Matto; both may warrant further exploration.
Jake recently went to visit Ryan in Kazakhstan, where he’s working for the Peace Corps. The ostensible reason for the get-together at his place was to sample Kazakh culinary delights and see his photos and videos from trip.
It seems that (intentionally) fermented dairy products are commonplace in Kazakhstan. We had the opportunity to try both fermented mare’s milk and cow milk. The mare’s milk had a strong smoky odor over the dairy smell; it was like Gouda cheese in a bottle. We each shot a small amount of it. I believe that I can safely say that it was the most repulsive beverage I’ve ever had.
The cow milk was similar, but lacked the smoky scent and flavor. If it weren’t for the tangy, sour flavor, it might almost be good. Maybe it’s better if you get it fresh.
Jake also had a bottle of Kazakh “cognac”. In contrast to the dairy products, drinking this was an enjoyable experience. It tasted much like real cognac, and if I recall correctly, the price of the bottle was around $5. There are apparently some things that we could stand to learn from former Soviet republics.
The centerpiece of the evening was the photo show. While I can’t really hope to relate much about the pictures (it takes me a while to type a thousand words), the photos and videos did introduce me to a sport of which I was previously unaware: kokpar. It’s similar to polo, except that instead of whacking a ball into a goal, there’s a headless goat carcass lying on the field, which has to be thrown into a ring which is surrounded by old tires.
I wonder when ESPN2 will start carrying kokpar.