Mongolia

Country - Mongolia

Cuisine Description - The Mongolian cuisine is not one of the cuisines that is known world wide, and more than that, it has a bad reputation, because of the low number of ingredients that are used.
Most of the Mongolian dishes are based on mutton, yak milk and even horse milk. The mutton is either boiled, filled with various ingredients, stewed, cooked with oil and flour or prepared with noodles. It represents the national dish of Mongolia, but it is rarely appreciated by the tourists, because of its smell. Most of those who have visited Mongolia criticize the odor of this food for many weeks, after the visit has ended. However, this food helps the roaming Mongols to survive the cold climate of their country, during the winters. It contains fat and proteins, which are essential for this fact. In Mongolia, spices are used in low quantities and sometimes, the dishes may lack the condiments.
Besides yak and horse milk, there are other Mongolian beverages that are important. The dried milk curd is sometimes served along with mutton based dishes. The milk is also used to prepare the two best known Mongolian alcoholic drinks. Nermalike, is similar to vodka and it is extracted from yoghurt. Airag is prepared from horse milk, through fermentation. Also, non-alcoholic drinks are consumed in this country. The most important beverage of this kind is suutei tsai. This is a tea made from hot water, butter, rice, high quantities of salt, yak milk and tea. The Mongolians believe that this drink helps the digestion and they consume it before the meals.
In addition to the mutton dishes, one can choose foods based on horsemeat, which has a greater popularity in the Western parts of the country. Marmot is also consumed and the games that were organized in order to catch these animals have a long history. The vegetables are rarely used in the Mongolian dishes. The greens cannot be cropped, due to the cruel climatic conditions.
The Guanz are the places located in the main cities where foods are served. Here, the workers can eat foods at low prices. The Mongolians eat the most food at breakfast and at lunch. The dishes that are served at these meals are in the most cases the traditional foods. Copyright Recipes Description