Purvya Volod'kina, Meat Dishes

Abstract

Purvya talks about meat dishes that the Kalmyks ate when she was a child. This is her story: Mutton was cut into thin, long pieces and dried in the sun. The dried meat then was softened in a cup of tea and eaten. It is a nutritious dish. In 1932-33 there was a widespread hunger in the Volga region, which affected the Kalmyks as well. Many people died of hunger. The Kalmyks survived thanks to eating ground squirrels, whose skin they also sold. Those who had a cow had a better chance to survive. One of our relatives fried a cow’s pelt and then boiled it. We drank the soup and chewed the pelt. In the past, poor herders used to make a dish called kur by stealing a sheep from their wealthy masters. They would kill a sheep, break the bones, put the meat into its stomach, and cook it inside a hole all night long. The meat becomes as soft as canned beef.