Cooking Mongolia

 Gastronomy

The contents of a meal depend on the region where you are, but also on the time of the year. Although in Ulan Bator you will find a fairly wide range of different foods and even restaurants serving a western type of food, you will have to comply with local customs in the rest of the country. You should also know that breakfast and lunch are the two main meals of the day. In the south, mutton and camel meat are the basis of the local food. All winter long, the food supplies are kept frozen, and during that time, milk is extremely rare. A meal is often limited to a meat and pasta soup. The need in calories being greater in order to endure the extreme cold, it is a time when boiled meat fat is served. Cooked meals are more specific to summer time. In the morning and afternoon, tea is served with boortsogs - biscuits fried in oil, and boiled meat. With the arrival of spring, along come the dairy products. Made with mare or camel's milk, kumis is an integral part of the food in the steppes. Milk is never drank on its own and always boiled. For example it is added to tea, with some salt. Women also make urum out of it, a sort of white butter, served alone or with some cheese. Aruul, or sun-dried curdled milk, is so hard you have to suck on it instead of chewing it. Milk is also the basic ingredient for some alcoholic drinks all bearing different names depending on the region. Arkhi (10 to 12%), which is actually often put into the same category as vodka, does not have the same devastating effect. That being said, some of the Mongols tend to opt for the latter option, much more expeditious.