Tatarstan

'Tatar' was used for centuries as an umbrella term for a range of Turkic (and some Mongolic) peoples across Central Asia and Russia — for much of its history it was more an outside label than a name people chose for themselves. Today it usually refers specifically to the Volga Tatars, also called Kazan Tatars: the group our recipes come from.

Kazan Tatars today number around 6 to 7 million people, of whom roughly 2 million live in Tatarstan itself — where they make up about half the population, with Kazan as the capital. Their history traces back to Volga Bulgaria (9th–13th century) and later the Kipchak-Tatars of the Golden Horde, followed by the Kazan Khanate, conquered by Russia in 1552. Kazan's historic fortress, the Kazan Kremlin, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Often confused, but a different group entirely: Crimean Tatars. They come from Crimea, not the Volga, speak a related but distinct Turkic language, and have their own, much harder history — including Stalin's mass forced deportation in 1944, with return only possible after the Soviet Union's collapse. Our kitchen has no connection to Crimean Tatar cuisine; ours is Volga Tatar.

Where, roughly

The food we serve on the street comes out of that history: simple, generously filled dishes made to eat on the move. Echpochmak, the triangular pastry, is the clearest example — easy to hold, made to share.

'Tugan' doesn't mean 'born', as people sometimes assume — it means 'dear' or 'familiar'. That's how we think about this work too: not a souvenir of home, but something that should feel familiar in its own right, here in Amsterdam.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Wikipedia (Volga Tatars, Crimean Tatars).

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