The Black Market

On my first day, I hung out with Gordon, an American from the flight. He had spent four years in Mongolia (in the countryside) and is back this time to teach English in Ulan Bator. At the Black Market (a fun name for a totally legal market that sells everything), he gave me a crash course in Mongolia culture.

 I tried airag, fermented mares milk (also referred to as “Mongolia’s champagne” or “horse vodka”) sold in old water bottles. The guy let me try some out of the giant barrel of white liquid with black bits (???) floating on top. ”Try not to let a dead flies get into your mouth” Gordon warned. At first, the salty, powerful taste was a shock but it did have nice fizz. Unlike champagne though, airag is meant to be tossed back, followed by a manly thump on the chest.

essential components of nomadic life: ger furniture and satellite dish

This entry was posted on July 30, 2008 at 5:46 am and is filed under Food, Mongolia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.