Хоол (translation: Food)

For the most part I have really enjoyed the food here, though I admit I’m not too adventurous. Last week during Tsagaan Sar is when I was most adventurous because I was at the mercy of my hosts and what they were serving. Luckily the worst thing I ate was milk curds and a lot of fat to go along with the sheep meat. I like to take pictures of food when I eat something interesting (good or bad), so here are some things I remembered to take pictures of.

This is take out from the restaurant right next to my office. I don’t get food from there very often, only when someone else from the office is going because I don’t know how to order. I really love their food though; everything is delicious.

This dish is apparently very typical Mongolian. It’s basically thick fried noodles and was very tasty. I went out to eat with a girl from the other Habitat office and we just went to a kind of fast food-type place. 

This is a beet salad that the receptionist force-fed me a couple of weeks ago. She told me she had made it earlier in the day and so after I had eaten lunch she had me come into the conference/break room to try some. I thought she was just going to give me a spoonful but she ended up giving me an entire bowl. I did NOT enjoy it. I choked down a few spoonfuls with the help of the bread she gave me to eat with it and the water I had brought in anticipation of the new dish. When she left the room for a few minutes I quickly spooned most of it into a tissue and then into the garbage, leaving only two bites left for when she returned. Once again I feel bad that I threw it away and did not like it at all, but I think that was better than being rude.

This is a beverage that I have had to endure several times so far. It is hot milk and water, that’s it, just boiled watery milk. I’ve had it at church activities and at member’s homes. I’m assuming it is kind of the Mormon substitute for tea around here. It’s not that hard to choke down and I’m getting kind of used to it, but I still think it is a little funny.

 Here is what I had at the German bakery last week. It was a delicious sausage with bread and potato salad. It is in no way Mongolian food. I asked the proprietor of the establishment if she imported her sausage from Europe and she said actually there was an Austrian guy who moved to Mongolia and set up a butcher/sausage shop, so they weren't even imported, which I found impressive.