SC - Mongolian Cookbook... Period?

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Just got this in a message from Jessica's Biscuit, cookbook vendors
http://www.ecookbooks.com

This is not an endorsement, since i have not seen the book... just 
wondered if anyone knew anything about it... May just be another of 
those ethnic cookbooks that claims ancient heritage without any 
actual really old recipes...

Anahita

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IMPERIAL MONGOLIAN COOKING: RECIPES FROM THE KINGDOMS OF GENGHIS KHAN, by
Marc Cramer
Hippocrene Books, Inc., New York
http://www.ecookbooks.com/products.html?item=01521
Jessica's Biscuit Price:$19.96
Retail Price:$24.95
An important collection for anyone interested in diverse and historical
culinary culture. This book is the first to explore the ancient culture of an
amazing empire. In the late 12th and early 13th centuries, Genghis Khan ruled
one of history's largest land empires, dominating two dozen countries and
stretching from the Black Sea in Russia to the South China Sea. With this
splendid book, Marc Cramer opens a window into the fascinating culture and
diverse culinary traditions virtually unknown in the West, offering an
original and exciting cooking adventure. This first-ever collection of
recipes provides easy-to-follow dishes that are taken from each of the four
khanates (kingdoms) that comprised the greatest empire the world has ever
seen--an empire that spanned two continents and four hundred years. Mongolian
Imperial cuisine is rich, sophisticated and exotic. Its complexity is in its
unique array of tastes and textures, while its preparation is rather
straightforward and practical. Virtually all dishes can be made quickly and
easily from ingredients available in most supermarkets or Asian groceries.
Entries are accompanied by fascinating narratives describing the history of
the dish and its particular kingdom of descent. The origin of this entire
collection is utterly fascinating as told in the introduction by author Marc
Cramer. Its genesis is in fantastic twists and turns of his Grandfather's
life, a "tempestuous Russian of Mongolian ancestry" growing bored of the
restaurant trade, searching for adventure, taking up with the Czar's Imperial
Army, befriending a former lama and chef in the service of the man who would
become the last khan of Mongolia, fleeing Russia bound up in a sack of export
grain on a train bound for Poland, turning up a restaurateur in London where
he spent out his days sharing bountiful meals, recipes and tales of his
Mongolia days with his family and friends. It is in this way that many of the
recipes in this glorious book were handed to his grandson, Marc Cramer, who
thankfully compiled this intriguing and significant book which savors the
tradition, taste and history of a bygone empire.