6 ms·
The article mentions that they brought along a couple of sheep and a number of mares per soldier. "...five horses and one sheep per soldier would produce appro
by nanomonkey 5y ago
The article mentions that they brought along a couple of sheep and a number of mares per soldier. "...five horses and one sheep per soldier would produce approximately 120 days of meat (at a half pound per day—obviously sharing the sheep among a group of men and then killing another messmate’s sheep and so on) and 280 days of airag." Airaq being fermented horse milk, which could be accumulated when the mare was overproducing.
- DSingularity 5y agoDid they carry the sheep or did they just lay behind?
- 0des 5y agoIf you've ever shorn sheep they have this weird quasi tonic immobility, I guess its just them giving up or something, but I could absolutely imagine one tied to a pack or the side of a horse as like a bedroll would be tied on, no different than a sack of wool or other material
- reillyse 5y agoThe sheep walked and ate grass.
- ls15 5y agoCut in thin slices and dehydrated is the most efficient way.
- 0des 5y agoFermented horse milk, fuck I'd go on a rampage too.
- Mikeb85 5y agoKefir, ie. fermented milk (usually from a cow) is something you can buy at the grocery store and is pretty damn tasty. And milk from different animals isn't all that different.
- 0des 5y agoThis is exactly something I'd expect a mongol to say. Nice try.
- lostcolony 5y agoWe're in your steppe, marauding your horde.
- dopidopHN 5y agoTurkish kefir is delicious ( that the only one I know, readily available in Doner Kebab places )
- code_duck 5y agoyeah... it's basically yogurt.
- ls15 5y agoAirag, kefir and yoghurt have pretty distinct taste profiles though. Not only the milk differs a bit, but also the involved processes and microbes. Airag is sold in Mongolia in grocery stores actually. It is harder to find kefir there.
- thaumasiotes 5y agoFermentation converts the indigestible lactose into nutritious alcohol; it's an important stage in processing the milk.