[Sca-cooks] Mongolian meat cakes

[Kathleen Madsen]

The Mongols were migratory herders and did indeed do
some preservation of foodstuffs, cheese being one of
the easiest foods to preserve.  If it was something
that is used for grating then it would definitely be
aged or sun-dried.

One of the basic recipes, which the Romans used as
well, was to make a curd, drain it, and spread it out
in the sun to dry into hardened sheets.  These were
then either ground up or grated into a food that would
reconstitute it to some degree.  People today do a
sort-of similar version by putting dollops of drained
yogurt on a plate or tray and placing that in the
refrigerator (uncovered) to dry out.

It is thought that the cheese called Cacciocavallo was
originally created by the Mongols as it was something
that could easily be slung across a pack animal,
saddle, or tent pole as it traveled and aged. 
Unfortunately it is merely speculation.  It's one of
those cheeses that has been around for so long that no
one's quite sure where it began.  On top of that, it's
named after it's shape - not a recipe so while what we
have available under that name today may come close to
the correct shape the flavor/texture/milk could be all
wrong.

There are also cheeses that were made in the stomach
of the goat or sheep and were left to age there for
transport purposes.  This cheese was so full of the
active enzyme in rennet that your tongue is just
assaulted with it. Imagine the "sharpness" of cheddar
magnified about 30 times over.  Just the thought makes
me pucker.

These are all of the aged ones that I have been able
to find that could have conceivably been used by the
Mongols.  Fresh cheeses would have included yogurt,
sour cream, possibly a feta-style, and a few others. 
I'm working on the cheeses for a
Persian/Iranian/African trade route feast our Barony
is holding in a few weeks.  The Head Cook is serving
camel.

Eibhlin



> If the mongols had used cheese in medieval meat
> cakes, wouldn't it have been something like green
> mare's milk cheese? Something curdled fresh on
> horseback, close to cottage cheese?
> 
> ~Aislinn~