On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 23:36:50 -0500, Bill Velek <billvelek@alltel.net>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>I'm watching the "Tonight Show" -- a talk-show starring Jay Leno here in
>the U.S. -- and one of the guests was just describing a recent trip he
>made to Mongolia. He said that "Fermented Horse Milk" is a big drink
>over there -- that it's everywhere. So now I'm wondering about using
>that as an adjunct in a beer ... ;-) So do the Mongolians have dairy
>farms full of horses over there? Gives a whole new meaning to going
>into a bar and ordering a milk ... no need to ask for it in a dirty
>glass, I guess.
>
>Cheers.
>
>Bill Velek[/color]

Hi Bill

I have also recently been to Mongolia (My wife and I travelled from
Moscow to Beijing by train and stopped for a few days in Mongolia to
stay in a ger (another name for yurt - a big felt tent) out on the
Steppes).

The drink is called airag (pronounced " Eric") and I was looking
forward to trying it but unfortunately it wasn't the right season for
airag. I gather that in the Spring, the mares are in foal and need
the milk and they only have enough surplus milk to make airag later in
the Summer. We were there in May and there wasn't a single bottle to
be found anywhere in Ulan Bataar (phew, that was lucky).

Apparently the milk is placed in a leather bag that hangs in the Ger
where it is churned traditionally for 1000 times. This starts the
fermentation process that creates the airag.

Whilst I didn't try airag, I did try a cup of Mongolian tea, which
consists of mare's milk, water and salt (note: no tea leaves are
involved!!!). Whilst drinkable (just) it tasted a little like warm
seawater. On the whole, the food and drink was fine in Mongolia - if
you like mutton.

Mongolians do not have dairy farms full of horses but are genuine
nomads and use horses as a means of transport for everyday use - there
are very few roads so very few cars except in Ulan Bataar the Capital.
I would assume that wealth is indicated by the number of horses you
own.

One of the high spots of the visit was sitting in a ger drinking
Mongolian Chinggis beer (a "normal" beer brewed in Ulan Bataar),
playing "ankle bones" - a very old Mongolian game, a bit like dominoes
but played with the ankle bones of dead sheep!!!

Regards


KGB