SC - a Miscellany

[Kathleen M Everitt]

Karen Lyons-McGann wrote:
> 
> Conchobar says:
>         Ok, I foolishly agreed to make a soup/stew for our event in March.
> 
> Me too!   It's the first time I've volunteered for such a thing.  The
> title of the event is "Cossaks, Mongols & Huns" and I don't have to stick
> to the theme, but it would be nice.  Anyone have an idea what Cossaks,
> Mongols or Huns ate?  Or know of what book I should hunt down to start
> finding out?   I was surprised at the number of Russian cookbooks at the
> library, but most of the soups and stews listed had either potatoes or
> tomatoes in them.  I know I can't document any of the other recipes, but
> at least those I know couldn't be right and up until a week ago that
> seemed like a pretty good start.
> 
> Anne

Okay. Lessee now. First off, I suspect that whatever the Cossacks ate
in  period either hasn't been documented in any way accessible to us, or
concerns their eating habits since the eighteenth century. Huns are in a
similar, but diametrically opposed, situation. I'm not aware of any
Greek or Roman authors who went into their eating habits, and while
there may be some period or early-post-period Hungarian recipes
available, there's some question whether those recipes represent the
eating habits of nomadic horsemen to any extent.

Now. The Mongols, on the other hand...

There are several relatively modern Mongolian recipes available in
archives from the UseNet newsgroup, rec.org.sca, a.k.a. the Rialto. I
believe the noble Lord Stefan Li Rous can hook you up with those; since
it's been a long time since I've looked at them, I'm not certain they
made their way into his Florilegium files.

In the mean time, you might check William of Rubrick, who was a European
traveller in the Far East in the 14th century. No specific recipes, for
the most part, but numerous descriptions of dishes and foodways.

Distantly related (because modern) is a method my brother-in-law, who
travelled to Outer Mongolia last summer, and made a video recording of
Mongol herdsmen cooking what was, for them, a traditional version of
Mongolian hot pot.

They built a big bonfire, heating smooth riverbed rocks in it until they
glowed. The added the rocks, and rather minimally seasoned chunks of
freshly killed, skinned, and butchered lamb or kid, to a large milk can,
with a clamping lid, and sealed it shut. They then played a version of
soccer with the can for ten minutes or so. Maybe more like five.

They then flipped the can upright again, and carefully opened it,
spraying meat juice, ash, and superheated steam everywhere (since the
milk can, having become, effectively, a pressure cooker, lacked a safety
valve) and ate their barbecue like proper Mongols: squatting on their
heels around a campfire, with semi-raw, semi-grilled leeks and
wheat-flour flatbread griddlecakes, and, of course, plenty of Russian
vodka.

Good luck!

Adamantius
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