The way Mongolians cook today come from thousands of years spent living on huge, open grasslands and surviving long, freezing winters. The land is perfect for raising animals, so meat and dairy became the main foods. Dairy and meat can be smoked, fermented or dried, which helps them last through the winter.
Vegetables are not common in Mongolian dishes because plants cannot survive the harsh winters. People learned to rely on foods that are available all year.
Cooking methods are also related to the environment. In my apartment, I do not have an oven. This connects to Mongolia’s traditional nomadic lifestyle. Carrying an oven across fields and over mountains would have been nearly impossible for families who moved several times each year. For this reason, people used cooking methods that were easy to set up anywhere. Steaming, frying, boiling and hot-stone cooking became very common because they require simple tools and an open fire.
Also, food habits change with the seasons. My Mongolian friends tell me that in the summer, people eat less meat because there is so much dairy. After all, summer is when most baby animals are born! In winter, people eat more meat because they need to stay strong when temperatures drop far below freezing. Do the foods you enjoy eating change when the weather is hot or cold?
