Let Them Eat Meat!
Let Them Eat Meat
Mongolians absolutely LOVE their meat! It is the primary dietary item, the cornerstone of their daily food intake. Beef, lamb, goat and sheep dishes abound in all of the many of the local restaurants while vegetarian and vegan offerings are almost nonexistent. Some of the most iconic Mongolian dishes include buuz (meat filled steamed dumplings), tsuivan (stir fried noodles served with mutton), Chanasan mahk (salted boiled meat), Khuushuur (a deep fried meat pocket), boodog (Mongolian barbeque style meats), and Khorkhog (another barbeque style of cooking meats).
Tuxi, our colleague/guide/adviser has expressed his disdain for vegetables, stating that he will not eat carrots because he doesn’t trust their color. “How does it get that orange hue? It doesn’t look natural!”, he laments. Instead, give him meat, any kind of meat, glorious animal protein. He has proposed that we share an entire cow with him. Autumn is the season for slaughter after the livestock has had a full summer of grazing to fatten up the animals. “Where will I store a half of a cow?” I remark. “Ah, just leave it on the porch area. It’s like a natural freezer in the winter”, he responds. Sounds like a terrific plan, doesn’t it? At least we would have a sufficient supply of beef for the winter.
Mongolian’s affinity for animal proteins and aversion to plant-based diets stem in large part from their nomadic heritage, the poor soil quality and the extreme climate conditions of the country. Less than 1% of the country is arable, 10% is forest and the rest is pasture or desert. The country lies in a high elevation location with a cold and dry climate. Winters are extremely cold while most of the precipitation falls during the short summer season. The growing season is very short, barely 100 days in the best years while sudden unexpected cold snaps can occur as early as mid-September. Droughts can wreak havoc on summer plantings of vegetable crops. Pork and chicken products are primarily imported from China and Russia because those animals are not suitable for herding and migration. They also cannot survive the harsh Mongolian winters.
On the other hand, 5 species of grazing animals, horses, cattle, camels, sheep and goats all thrive and abound throughout the country. The 2019 National Statistical Office Publication of the livestock census showed over 71 million animals in Mongolia. These include 30.1 MM sheep, 27.1 MM goats, 4.4 MM cows, 3.9 MM horses and 460 K camels. To put it in prospective, that’s 30 head of livestock for each human in Mongolia. No food shortage here if animal protein in your sustenance of choice! (https://www.aceinland.com/mongolia-agriculture-and-livestock/)