Traditions of Mongolian Cuisine

Many recipes and methods of cooking in Mongolia came from the Middle Ages when hunger was more common than today and food was meant to feed and not please. Still, from those times we have several diverse soups that constitute a large part of the menu.

In the steppes you wont find even a twig for a fire and as a result, fried food is not popular in Mongolia. That�s why they preferred to boil or to cook by steam. Often they just jerked or smoked the meat. Sometimes they put strips of meat under their saddles and after a day�s ride the meat was "cooked." Also, the salts from the horses body helped preserve and flavour the meat.  This way of preserving meat was even practiced by the settlers in America and cowboys would stick dried or smoked meat under the saddle--breaking off pieces as they traveled.