Here is a sample of one of the lessons for teachers the Mujaan DVD comes with:
FoodMongolian nomads eat mostly meat and milk they get from their herds. In the spring herd animals are skinny from living without as much grass throughout the dry, cold winter. Many also give birth then so their babies can grow during the summer, when grass is plentiful.
Mongolians therefore prepare dried meat and milk in the fall for the
spring, so they can increase their herds and eat the animals when they
are big and fat. A family of seven can live off of the slaughter of
one sheep for one to three weeks, depending on how much flour, potatoes
or rice they eat with it.
In an effort to prevent the loss of blood, which is filled with vital nutrients, and reduce the suffering of the animal, Mongolians have devised a method for slaughtering sheep that appears horrific to most Westerners: they cut a hole in its chest, reach inside and stop the blood flow to the brain by squeezing the heart until it stops beating or pinching the aorta.
This method doesn’t work for the slaughter of goats or cows
who are too stubborn or too big to be held down like the sheep. For
those animals, and in the rarer cases when Mongolians eat horses, camels
or yaks, Mongolians first stun the animal by hitting it in the head
with a hammer or the back of an axe. After a slaughter Mongolians eat
or make use of most of the animal’s body, including the stomach,
intestine, face meat and brains.
In the middle of Mujaan Sukhbaatar de-bones a marmot; stuffs it with
wild garlic, salt and hot rocks; sews the hole shut; roasts it over a
fire; and burns the remaining hair off with a hot metal rod. You can
hear the squeal of hot gas as Sukhbaatar pries the stitches open so the
carcass doesn’t burst.
The meat is tough, fatty, and gamy, and most Mongolians love it. However marmots also carry the bubonic plague, which ravaged Europe for hundreds of years after Mongolian war hordes invaded in the thirteenth century. In an effort to prevent another epidemic, the Mongolian government has outlawed hunting marmots, but many Mongolians ignore that, claiming they can recognize marmots carrying the disease.
Suggested Activity: Inspired by a comparison between traditional Mongolian culture and their own, students will research how their country produces specific foods they eat and present their findings to their peers.
Materials: library or internet access; writing materials; presentation materials.
Step-by-step:
- Ask: Which foods in the video are like foods we eat? How is the way the Mongolians get, prepare and eat these foods different from the way we obtain, prepare and eat similar foods? Why do you think we do it differently?
- Assign students to research specific foods shown in Mujaan that are also commonly eaten in your country (for example: meat, flour, milk or tea). Students will compare and contrast how the food is acquired, distributed, prepared and served in the two cultures.
- Students present their findings to the class.
- To conclude: did anything surprise them when they did their research?
