Mongolian people prepare the meat for the whole year’s usage in the last month of autumn or first month of winter. If the family consists of 3-4 members, for example, they slaughter 1-2 cattle or one bullock and one horse and 4-5 sheep or goats. Because of horse meat is considered to be fat, it is mostly eaten in winter or spring. It is bfated in big chunks or chopped to make buuz or khuushuur. Horse fat is never congealed by cold air and is easily digested.
Beef is consumed by bfating in big chunks, or in noodle soup, buuz, or khuushuur; it is also cut into small pieces and put in a sack to have it dried. When it is dried it is called borts or dried meat, which is eaten mainly in summer and autumn. Dried meat is used in noodle soups, meals with rise, milk tea with rise, or it can be dipped in tea. Mutton and goat meat are used in all the above-mentioned meals; mutton is never dried to make borts because mutton is easily rotten.

 

In some areas /in the Gobi/, camel meat might be eaten. Dried meat is essentially admired by students and other people who are living abroad. As told by them, the pounded borts bfated in soup releives the stress and have them sweat. In addition, among the Mongolians there is a legend like saying that the pounded borts of a whole bullock can be put in its own bladder.

The Mongolian astronaut Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa, who was awarded the highest medal of Mongolia and Russian Federation, Hero of the Nation, /presently the Defense Minister/ consumed borts soup in his flight to the space /on March 22, 1981/.

Mongolians have a tradition to slaughter a sheep during a celebration or to the mostly honored guest. The part of the meat that is directed to the head or down to the ground in the body is said to be the head or beginning part. The host offers the meat with this point directed to the guest. The guest holds it with the head part and cuts from the side. When a whole lower part of a sheep or uuts is offered, you touch the upper part with your left hand, slice from its side and eat.