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Friday, July 29, 2022

Long before KFC arrived in Mongolia:





As they moved, they milked the animals, slaughtered them for food, and fed themselves from hunting and looting. Marco Polo alleged that the Mongol warriors could travel ten days without stopping to make a fire or heat food, that they drank horses’ blood, and that each man carried with him ten pounds of dried milk paste, putting one pound of it in a leather flask of water each day to make his meal. The warrior carried strips of dried meat and dried curd with him that he could chew while riding; and when he had fresh meat, but no time to cook it, he put the raw flesh under his saddle so it would soon be softened and edible.

The Chinese noted with surprise and disgust the ability of the Mongol warriors to survive on little food and water for long periods; according to one, the entire army could camp without a single puff of smoke since they needed no fires to cook. Compared to the Jurched soldiers, the Mongols were much healthier and stronger. The Mongols consumed a steady diet of meat, milk, yogurt, and other dairy products, and they fought men who lived on gruel made from various grains. The grain diet of the peasant warriors stunted their bones, rotted their teeth, and left them weak and prone to disease. In contrast, the poorest Mongol soldier ate mostly protein, thereby giving him strong teeth and bones. Unlike the Jurched soldiers, who were dependent on a heavy carbohydrate diet, the Mongols could more easily go a day or two without food.

[from Jack Weatherford's Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World]



3 comments:

Biff said...

Awesome story.

I read another account about how the Viet-Cong carried raw foods and cooked/prepared them on the go through the jungle.

Americans bring corporate restaurants with to battle. Outback Steakhouse out front.

Martin said...

I read that Mongolian warriors milked their mares and let the milk curdle in a leather container they strapped to their horse as they road all day. I also read that the mostly meat diet of the Gauchos in Argentina caused them to have a lot of constipation and bowel cancer, which I imagine applied to Mongolian warriors (most of whom probably didn't live long enough to get cancer).

When I was down in Argentina I mentioned the problems of a high-meat diet and was told that a big part of the maté drinking culture was that the constant tea drinking helped to keep the Gauchos, and other heavy meat eaters, regular.

Gut problems were probably also an issue with American cowboys whose diet also lacked variety, especially fruits and vegetables, and who drank lots of coffee, in part, to keep the intestines moving.

Linh Dinh said...

Hi Biff,

Fed on bugs and fake meats, cross dressing and self-castrated soldiers of the West with two dozens pronouns will be unbeatable.


Linh