Kazakh cuisine  Kazakh cuisine is traditionally focused on mutton and horse meat, as well as various milk products. For hundreds of years, Kazakhs were herders who raised fat-tailed sheep, Bactrian camels, and horses, relying on these animals for transportation, clothing, and food. The cooking techniques and major ingredients have been strongly influenced by the nation's nomadic way of life. For example, most cooking techniques are aimed at long-term preservation of food. There is a large practice of salting and drying meat so that it will last, and there is a preference for sour milk, as it is easier to save in a nomadic lifestyle. Meat in various forms has always been the primary ingredient of Kazakh cuisine, and traditional Kazakh cooking is based on boiling. Horse and mutton are the most popular forms of meat and are most often served in large uncut pieces which have been boiled. Kazakhs cared especially for horses which they intended to slaughter—keeping them separate from other animals and feeding them so much that they often became so fat they had difficulty moving. Majority of Kazakh cuisine is () – four kinds of cattle (i.e. four kinds of meat): horses, camels, cows, and sheep. Horse meat is the main festive meat, while sheep's meat is used as common meat. Camel meat is also a kind of festive meat, but not the main (as camels in Kazakhstan are not as common as horses). Cow's meat is also a kind of common meat.  , a dish consisting of boiled horse or mutton meat is the most popular Kazakh dish. It is also called "five fingers" because of the way it is eaten. The chunks of boiled meat are cut and served by the host in order of the guests’ importance. is usually eaten with a boiled pasta sheet, and a meat broth called , and is traditionally served in Kazakh bowls called . is another Kazakh's national dish. Other popular meat dishes are (which is a horse meat sausage that only the wealthy could afford), (horse meat sausages), (also spelled , a dish made from roasted horse, sheep, or cow offal, with the heart, liver, kidneys, and other organs, diced and served with onions and peppers), and various horse delicacies, such as (smoked lard from horse's neck) and (salted and smoked meat from horse's hip and hind leg). Another popular dish is pilaf (), which is made from meat fried with carrots, onions or garlic, then cooked with rice.  , also known as crackler, is melted fat in a large bowl with sugar, eaten by dipping it with bread and is often served with tea. is a sausage made during fall and winter slaughtering and is made by stuffing intestines with pieces of ground meat, fat, blood, garlic, salt, and black pepper. , also known as kebab, is popular among hunters and travelers and is a dish in which small pieces of meat are roasted over a fire. is a dish made from the heart, aorta, and fat of a horse, prepared in a kettle, and is often shared between sisters-in-law as a sign of unity. is a sausage eaten in the spring when a cow has a new calf; it is a giant sausage sometimes served with rice or . is a dish made from sheep's brain, made by putting the brain in a wooden bowl, adding marrow, pieces of meat, salted fat in broth, and garlic, and this dish is then often served to honored guests. is a large camel bone distributed to children after slaughtering and cooking meat from a camel.