[Sca-cooks] Mongolian History- was Re: Any period Mongolian recipes out there?

Saint Phlip phlip at 99main.com
Fri Aug 24 09:59:14 PDT 2007


On 8/24/07, Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius <adamantius1 at verizon.net> wrote:

> Sometimes traditions aren't very traditional...
>
> Well, unfortunately, I'm not aware of a lot else, other than ASftQ,
> as a source for documentable period Mongolian recipes. You can get a
> very general sense of what they ate from sources like William of
> Rubrick. They probably weren't eating rice on the steppes, but they
> probably _were_ eating some form of wheat noodle or couscous-like
> processed grain food, probably in broth. There are also references to
> such noodle dishes in both Ni Tsan and ASftQ.
>
> Adamantius

OK, I'm going to want to disagree with you on this, at least as far as
the early Mongols were concerned.

The reason goes back to one of the early stories about Genghis, when
he was a child, after his uncle? deserted him, his mother, and his
siblings off in the middle of the steppes.

One of the reasons that he was believed to be a "chosen" one, is that
after this desertion, his mother fed the family on found roots and
herbs and the like, as well as such meat as a youngster could catch.
It was considered very much a miracle, indicating the sanctity of his
mother, as well as of Genghis himself, because of course "everyone
knows" that the only proper food for a Mongol was the produce of his
flocks and herds- in other words, meat and milk. While it was known
that "some (poor) people" would eat vegetation, it was a habit not
discussed amongst "nice" people, thus, noodle dishes, being in
addition labor intensive, would tend not to be served at feasts,
because the host would wish to show off his wealth, which wouldn't
include vegetable matter.

Thus, it is my thought, that, whether or not such a dish was made and
eaten, it certainly wouldn't be presented at an important gathering of
any sort.

OTOH, in the later Empire, they had learned about more elegant and
sumptuous feasts, and while they would serve delicacies from around
the Empire, they would advertise their Mongolness and superiority by
drinking kumiss, and including traditional foods in the feast, but
would mainly feast on the non-Mongol delicacies.

Thus, my thought that either you need to accept that noodles wouldn't
be an early Mongol feast dish, or accept that you're going to have to
indulge in a late Empire feast, which Soup for the Qan is perfectly
suited to provide.

-- 
Saint Phlip

Heat it up
Hit it hard
Repent as necessary.

Priorities:

It's the smith who makes the tools, not the tools which make the smith.

Denial of evidence is not refutation of evidence.

Blessed be the self-righteous, for they shall inherit themselves.



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