Dumpling Diaspora: Food across the Silk Road

Heading east from the old city of Baku, one enters the city’s modern restaurant district, with restaurants from every corner of the globe. A glance through the windows of one cafe reveals gigantic dumplings hanging from the ceiling. Brought to Azerbaijan by Georgian immigrants, the garlic-shaped meat-filled dumplings are known as khinkali, and they are just one of the many types of dumplings found throughout the post-Soviet states.

Today, dumplings can be found from China to Turkey, in countless varieties. Their shapes, flavors, and fillings differ in each region, influenced by local ingredients and tastes. Most scholars believe that the dumpling originated in the Han Dynasty (206 BC- 220 AD) in China. One legend says Zhang Zhongjing created the first “jiaozi” when he wrapped a blend of herbs and meat in dough to resemble a human ear. Variations eventually spread throughout the Himalayas, Central Asia, South Asia, and the Caucasus.

Today, Mongolia has buuz which are steamed and often filled with minced meat, garlic, onion, and spices; the Himalayan region has momos, which are commonly served with a sauce known as achar influenced by the spices and herbs in many South Asian cuisines. The Uyghurs in China, have a traditional dish called mantau, which translates to “bread prepared in steam” and contains a savory or sweet filling.

Pelmeni, a meat filling wrapped in thin unleavened dough, is recognized as the national dish of Russia, however, its origins are contested. Pelmeni became a staple dish during the period of Russian expansion into the Ural Mountains and Siberia. Some scholars believe that pelmeni evolved from Chinese jiaozi because pelmeni has a strong black pepper flavor, which along with other spices, is not native to Russia. This would suggest that pelmeni were carried by the Mongols from China to Siberia and the Urals. On the other hand, the Russians say that pelmeni originated in the Urals and then spread to Central Asia by Russian explorers.

Portable and hand-held, dumplings were an ideal food for the many nomadic groups that occupied the territory from the former Soviet Union through Central Asia and China. Typically filled with meat, these nutrient-dense handy “packages” could be prepared and eaten as populations moved through barren lands without other sources of food. For example, hunters and explorers in Taiga would traditionally carry stacks of frozen pelmeni with them on their travels.

Even though dumplings exist in various forms from Turkey to China, each local version is different, and each family tradition is unique. In fact, each individual hand leaves a distinct mark on a dumpling. Every dumpling has small variations. University of Michigan professor Miranda Brown has written about the history of dumplings in Asia and notes that the marks left by pinching the edge of the dumpling into place are "like handwriting.” According to Brown, some dumpling aficionados can look at a plate of handmade dumplings and know by the imprints on the dough exactly how many people folded them.

Many factors have contributed to the varieties of dumplings that have evolved over time and space. For example, a century ago, a new set of Chinese governmental policies intended to segregate ethnic groups required lamb and beef diets for Muslim Chinese and shifted the Han Chinese diet from lamb to pork. According to Holly Chase, “Turkic and Mongol horsemen on the move were supposed to have carried frozen or dried manti, which could be quickly boiled over a camp” Locals say that khinkali originated in the mountains of Georgia and were traditionally prepared by shepherds and farmers. Other legends state that the khinkali’s origins involved Mongolia, and that the form made its way up to Georgia around the 13th century by travellers on the Silk Road.

In Tbilisi, on a dead-end street, a khinkali restaurant draped in Georgian grapevines, and bearing a Russian name is staffed almost entirely by German servers. It is filled with visitors from every part of the globe, from Russian investors to Italian tourists and Indian medical students. Sofia Melnikova's Fantastic Douqan represents the cultural melting pot that defines post-Soviet culture. If you ask, its staff will kindly teach you how to correctly eat khinkali: each dumpling should be held by its spiraled top, turned upside down, and nibbled just enough to reveal the broth inside. The khinkali should then be tilted to drink the broth, and finally, consumed in its entirety!