You might be interested in something like this. Mongolia is not Siberia, but it
is 'in that direction'
From _http://www.westonaprice.org/in-his-footsteps/diet-of-mongolia
"In 1870, the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) granted permission and funding
for a small expedition of ten men led by Lieutenant-Colonel Nikolai Mikhailovich
Przhevalsky to journey into Mongolia..."
He 'discovered' the wild horse, named for him: Equus ferus przewalskii.
Diet:
"[The mongolian...] never drinks cold water, but always prefers brick-tea, a
staple article of consumption with all the Asiatic nomads. It is procured
from the Chinese, and the Mongols are so passionately fond of it that
neither men nor women can do without it for many days. From morning
till night the kettle is simmering on the hearth, and all members of
the family constantly have recourse to it. It is the first refreshment
offered to guests."
"The mode of preparation is disgusting: the vessel in which the tea is boiled
is never cleansed, and is occasionally scrubbed with argols, i.e. dried horse
or cow dung. Salt water is generally used, but if unobtainable, salt is added.
The tea is then pared off with a knife or pounded in a mortar, and a handful
of it thrown into the boiling water, to which a few cups of milk are added.
To soften the brick-tea, which is sometimes as hard as a rock, it is placed
for a few minutes among hot argols, which imparts a flavor and aroma to the
whole beverage. This is the first process....For a more substantial meal the
Mongol mixes dry roasted millet in his cup, and, as a final relish, adds a
lump of butter or raw sheep tail fat (kurdiuk). The reader may now imagine
what a revolting compound of nastiness is produced, and yet they consume any
quantity of it! Ten to fifteen large cupfulls is the daily allowance for a
girl, but full-grown men take twice as much."
The addition of butter or sheep-tail fat makes it sound like they are using
their tea in their diet in similar way to the use of bone broth advocated here.
BTW The salt was probably helpful because another article
_http://www.chinaculture.org/focus/focus/minzuwang/2010-06/25/content_383847.html
there is mention of iodine deficiency in the diet.
"The food of the Mongols also consists of milk prepared in various ways,
either as butter, curds, whey or koumiss..."
Koumiss is fermented mares milk:
"...They are all inclined to indulge too freely, although drunkenness
is not so rife with them as it is in more civilized countries..."
In a travelogue I read not so long ago (not got the name handy) it seems vodka
is now the tipple of choice, resulting in much more serious side-effects.
"In autumn, when the grass is of poorest description, the sheep fatten
wonderfully, and the fatter the better for the Mongol taste...."
"No part of the slaughtered animal is wasted, but everything is eaten up
with the utmost relish..."
"The gluttony of this people exceeds all description. A Mongol will eat
more than ten pounds of meat at one sitting, but some have been known to
devour an average-sized sheep in twenty-four hours! On a journey, when
provisions are economized, a leg of mutton is the ordinary daily ration
for one man, and although he can live for days without food, yet, when
once he gets it, he will eat enough for seven."
"They always boil their mutton, only roasting the breast as a delicacy.
On a winter's journey, when the frozen meat requires extra time for
cooking they eat it half raw...Of the liquor in which he has boiled his
meat he makes soup by adding millet or dough, drinking it like tea..."
"The bones are licked clean and cracked for the sake of the marrow;
the shoulder blade of mutton is always broken and thrown aside,
it being considered unlucky to leave it unbroken."
Lifestyle:
"…The most striking trait in their [the Mongols'] character is sloth.
Their whole lives are passed in holiday making, which harmonizes with
their pastoral pursuits. Their cattle are their only care, and even
they do not cause them much trouble. The camels and horses graze on
the steppe without any watch, only requiring to be watered once a day
in summer at the neighboring well. The women and children tend the
flocks and herds. Milking the cows, churning butter, preparing their
meals, and other domestic work, falls to the lot of the women. The men,
as a rule, do nothing but gallop about all day long from yurta to yurta,
drinking tea or koumiss, and gossiping with their neighbors.
Finally, their health:
"Endowed by nature with a strong constitution, and trained from early
childhood to endure hardships, the Mongol enjoys excellent health,
notwithstanding all the discomforts of life in the desert. In the
depth of winter, for a month at a time, they accompany the tea caravans.
Day by day the thermometer registers upwards of minus 20° F, with a
constant wind from the northwest, intensifying the cold until it is
almost unendurable. But in spite of it they keep their seat on their
camels for fifteen hours at a stretch, with a keen wind blowing in
their teeth. A man must be made of iron to stand this; but a Mongol
performs the journey backwards and forwards four times during the winter,
making upwards of 3,000 miles."
This does not sound so "slothful" to me.
A little bit further down the Web page there is this comment from a modern Western
author writing in/of the 1990s:
"...after eating some of the five-year-old female camel which was quite
tender and tasty, I began to reconsider my earlier plans concerning
our winter meat supply. By the time we had eaten one hind quarter and
were ready to cook up the bone in soup and get the marrow, I just had
to get a picture of us holding the massive piece of broken bone, happy
as larks. It was great! Was there a convert in the making? Perhaps I was
starting to change from my ignorance that arose from western "propaganda"
as to what is healthy and what is not. Ten years later and after
subscribing to Wise Traditions for two years, I laughed at what
I used to think was "heart stopper" food which I now could eat with
relish."
"Whenever the family cut up the meat, they never wasted anything and
always cherished the fat and bone marrow. I used to call bone marrow
Mongolian chocolate." None of the old people I have talked to mention
the making of bone broth. I think the reason for this is that it takes
too much time and, more important, too much fuel. The way they eat the
bone marrow is to put the bones in with the soup and once that is done
they take the bones out and break them in half, scoop out the marrow
with a narrow device and eat it as a delicacy."
Finally:
"Once an animal is killed, the blood is collected and put into the
cleaned intestine to make blood sausage. The innards are always eaten
first as they go bad the quickest. After cleaning the intestines, they
make blood sausage from it and boil all the innards together. Every
one sits around the bowl of guts and takes a knife and cuts off what
they want from each piece. The lung has the most unique texture but
it all grew on me pretty quickly. They save the head and feet to be
heated with a piece of hot iron and remove the hooves and eat the meat
underneath. Everything of the animal is eaten except the spleen. For a
propagandized American, it was great to see how nothing was wasted and
everything was relished. And now ten years later, to realize how wholesome,
nutritious and nourishing this traditional diet truly is for us all, is
reassuring as we raise our children on this pure, unadulterated God-given
food."
My mum and grandmother used to cook lungs when I was a child. We called it 'lights'
I didn't like it much.
BTW, You can find Weston A. Price and westonaprice.org referenced elsewhere on
this forum.
