From the earliest times the diet of Mongols has been determined by the country's natural and climatic conditions, and the specific features of its socio-economic development. Therefore, the diet of the Mongolians has differed markedly from that of other peoples. The nomadic life, which the Mongolians were forced to lead through the need to regularly move their animals to new pastures, was the main factor, leading to a distinctive type of diet which can be described as high-protein and high fat, consisting mostly of meat and dairy products. Historically the main economic sector of Mongolian agriculture has always been animal husbandry.
This has to a great extent predetermined the country's culinary traditions, the basis of most dishes centring on mutton, beef and goat's meat and more rarely horse meat, pork and poultry. However, very popular are farinaceous dishes, rice, various piquant aromatic roots, greens, onion and garlic. Fish and fish products are not so popular in Mongolia. In summer when milk was abundant, the Mongols processed it to prepare a number of products that could be stored for a long time. They include: aruul, a kind of dried cottage cheese; byaslag and eezgii, two kinds of cheese made from sour milk; tsagan tos, a distinctive product made from the skim of the milk; shar tos, melted butter.
Fresh milk was usually consumed either unskimmed, or added to tea. It was also made into clotted sour milk. All these products, tasty and nourishing, have not been forgotten. In the countryside food tends to be cooked once a day, unless guests arrive. In the morning and afternoon, milk tea is drunk with Boortsog (butter biscuits fried in oil) and meat boiled the night before. Food is only cooked for summer. Most of the time it is boiled meat and broth to which noodles, rice or other groats are added to taste. Milk products are greatly enjoyed by country people including fresh milk, sour clotted milk, yoghurt, cheese, curds and the famous airag (a drink made from fermented mare's milk, well known in the West as koumiss). A custom of consuming dairy products in summer and meat for the rest of the year has developed.
Preference was given to mutton. This is still so. In the warm season, when fewer cattle are slaughtered than in the cold season, dried meat called "borts" is largely consumed. The Mongol's nomadic way of life and the country's climatic conditions have given rise to such specific methods of preserving meat. The most widespread one is air-drying. Meat is cut into long strips that are hung in the shade. The meat dries very quickly becoming so hard that it cannot be cut with a knife. Before use, dried meat is powdered and then put into boiling water. A typical Mongolian meal consists of an hors-d'oeuvre, usually a cold dish such as cooked lamb or beef with various condiments.
On special occasions, particularly in the Tsagaan sar (New Year in the Lunar calendar), every family has a saddle of mutton as the dish of honour. This is carved into thin slices and given to the guests coming to greet the hosts. For the first course the host serves either noodle soup, meat soup with scones, broth with meat dumplings or mushrooms, thick soup or meal soup, etc. The second course as a rule is also meat. "Buuz", very similar to meat dumplings but cooked in steam, and "khuushuur", meat pies in unleavened pastry, are very popular. Mongolian culinary tradition has a rather exotic dish which has been eaten with relish from time immemorial.
This is "Boodog", the whole carcass of a goat roasted from the inside with the entrails and bones being taken out through the throat; the carcass is filled with burning hot stones and the neck tied tightly. Thus the meat is cooked from the inside and not as is usual from the outside. "Khorkhog" is also another exotic dish; the carcass is placed in a tightly sealed cooking pot and surrounded with burning hot stones. Tourists visiting Mongolia enjoy these dishes very much. The bowels of slaughtered sheep and goats are used for making sausages. The process appears simple at first sight: the thoroughly rinsed intestines are stuffed with finely chopped bowels, fat, blood, spices, salt, onions and garlic.
But only a good housewife knows what components to use and in what proportions. The king of Mongolian beverages is tea with milk. Sometimes rice, meat, meat dumplings and rendered fat is added. In several regions the tea is made salty and in some places brewed with bone broth. The situation changed fundamentally in the years of development of the country into an advanced agrarian-industrial state with a dynamic economy and culture. The country's progress was reflected in the raised living standards and changes in people's everyday life, including their diet. One typical change was the introduction of cereals, vegetables and fruit into the Mongolian diet.
The exploitation of virgin land made it possible to fully meet the demand for flour and flour products. Vegetable growing and fruit cultivation were also developed intensively. Poultry farming, pig-breeding and bee-keeping, completely new developments in Mongolian agriculture, have appeared. Although meat is still an important part of the Mongolian diet, new produce including vegetables, potatoes, fruit, rice, eggs, confectionery, cooked meats and fish have also become part and parcel of our diet. Tasty, diverse and nutritious foods are graphic evidence of people's greatly improved living and cultural standards. Nowadays Mongolian canteens, cafes and fast food restaurants offer a choice of not only many kinds of national food, but also dishes of other nationalities. They are prepared from products which are not only traditional for Mongolian cuisine, but also from relatively new products which have already become an integral part of the diet.
