New Foods

People often ask about the food. Mongolians eat a lot of meat, and the children are often surprised if their meal does not include meat. They also use a lot of the fat from the meat which is quite an adjustment for my stomach.  Some common vegetables used are potatoes, carrots, and cabbage etc. Pickles are also common. The bread/biscuits tend to be on the harder side.
A ritual drink served to guests and at special events is horse milk. I tried by first sip last week as we were invited into our neighbors Gher tent. A band of brothers had arrived to ask for the family's daughter's hand in marriage so they had prepared traditional meal items including Buj (the pastry dough with meat in the middle, first picture with a carrot salad). They served us a large bowl of horse milk (tasted fermented) followed by a clear liquid in a smaller bowl which I found out was also from horse's milk (heated milk and collected the vapors) which is a stronger version of the first bowl. Then they follow it up with a shot of vodka. Another item , with a strong taste, was what looked like a white cookie however it was dried horse's milk. It was soft in texture but had the same bitter fermented taste. I was so thankful to try this tradition but even more thankful that my stomach was not upset after since it was so strong.
At our YWAM base we often eat noodle base dishes, and they make the noodles from scratch each day. This picture shows me eating the noodles with fried meat, and pieces of carrot.