The mutton that followed us

September 23, 2008 by Karin.

 Juno was unimpressed.

“Oh my god! I’ve had this before!” At the diner on a dusty road between Ulan Bator and Kharkhorin, I stared down at my plate of mutton stir-fry. The first time I had this dish with the family in Terelj, I was sure they put french fries in it to appease our Western palates. But there it was again: mutton stir-fried with peppers, carrots, and crinkly french fries in an orangy brown sauce.

Not to say it wasn’t good but that dish showed up again the next day for lunch at the nice restaurant/bar/karaoke joint in Kharkhorin. Then, by coincidence, for dinner at the hotel restaurant (with mash potatoes instead of crinkly fries). And returned the following day in our lunch boxes (without the fries) at the work site. We were sure the mutton was following us and we dreamt of ways to outrun it. ”How about ramen? I saw some at the supermarket. Ahh…if only we could make our own ramen.”

Though sampling the local cuisine is my favorite part of traveling, even I admitted having pizza fantasies. (Which in itself was a pretty exotic phenomenon.) Or a nice plate of spaghetti. Out there in the middle of Mongolia, it would so refreshing…such a novelty.

Juno had a little talk with the chef at our hotel restaurant and the next evening, we sat down to long-awaited plates of pasta. Ahh, the taste of home…except for ground mutton in the bolognese sauce which provided just the right amount of Mongolian exoticism.

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