Cooking with Herders
What it's like
Flour on the table, mutton on the board and a pot of salty milk tea on the stove. Folding buuz with a herding family is messy, cheerful and the quickest way to feel at home in a ger.
Mongolian cooking is built around what the herds provide: meat, especially mutton, and an extraordinary range of dairy. Buuz (steamed dumplings) and khuushuur (fried pastries) are staples, while suutei tsai, milky tea often salted, is served in every ger.
Summer is the season of white foods: yoghurt, cream (öröm), dried curds (aaruul) and airag, fermented mare's milk, which is slightly sour, mildly alcoholic and offered generously in summer. A sip is polite; you need not finish the bowl.
Diets are meat-heavy and vegetables can be limited in the countryside. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and allergy needs can be catered for with notice; let us know when booking so our cooks can plan supplies.
Adventures with this
More experiences
Staying with Nomad Families
Sleep in a family ger, help with the herds and share the rhythm of a working nomadic camp.
Horse Riding
Ride sturdy Mongolian horses across open steppe, river valleys and forested hills with local horsemen.
Camel Trekking
Travel the Gobi on the back of a two-humped Bactrian camel, guided by the herders who raise them.
Eagle Hunting Traditions
Meet the Kazakh burkitshi of Bayan-Ölgii, who raise and train golden eagles to hunt in winter.
The Naadam Games
Wrestling, horse racing and archery: the three manly games at the heart of Mongolia's summer festival.
Throat Singing and the Morin Khuur
Hear khöömei, the overtone singing of the steppe, and the morin khuur horsehead fiddle, both UNESCO-listed traditions.
Ready when you are
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