How Not to Store Mongolian Goat Meat

“You can do what you want with the goat. You can eat it. You can put it to the side of your plate. But whatever you do, do not put it in your pocket.” This pronouncement was delivered with no hint of humor. Apparently, pocket transport was a tried – but not true – method of storing goat just outside of Ulan Baatar, Mongolia’s capital city.
Self-propelling, self-sufficient meat like goat was my most common protein source as I crossed the Gobi Desert. In uneven terrain that shifts from cracked red dirt to sand dunes to snow-dusted frozen tundra, all in the same day, it's beneficial for your animals to be hardy.
Usually, meals were cooked in a large pan above an open flame in the middle of a yurt. Yurts, like pans, are circular, ensuring that they heat efficiently. The thrifty spirit that launched the yurt is reflected in the most common foods. Ingredients are standard for Mongolia's region. Less standard? Mongolian dining lore, as evinced by the warning about pocket storage of goat meat.
Other beliefs? Drinking cold beverages while eating a warm meal is forbidden. The pseudo-scientific explanation? The grease from the meal will congeal if it comes into contact with cold beverages in your stomach, making you violently ill. I was skeptical, but I followed tradition and drank hot tea with my goat meat and greasy noodles. It likely didn’t hurt that I was ravenous after a day of hiking scrub brush and sand dunes, but it was delicious.
Airag, though, can be drunk before a meal. It’s fermented mare’s milk, and the traditional national beverage of Mongolia. My only comment? It is culturally appropriate to take a sip and return the bowl-like cup to your host. I was grateful for that custom.
Sadly, I never found out the logic behind not storing goat in my pocket. Although I have a few theories, our guide did not deign to explain the mysteries of Mongolian goat storage. I’ll have to find the answer on my next expedition through the Gobi.