Personally, I love any movie that shows indigenous people eating their own food. Wow. There was a scene in this movie which makes me sort of glad I'm not visiting inner Mongolia, although at the same time I am drawn to it like crazy. First of all, I love all things arctic and subarctic. The peoples impress me, the wilderness compels me. I dream of northern lights, heavy felt coats and giant furry dogs. Yes, I know. Tucson is a strange place for a girl whose most desired place to travel to next is Iceland.
Back to the movie. In one scene the father of the family is invited into the yurt and offered food. The food is one communal dish of meat. There is no muscle meat. And it sure doesn't look like it was roasted over an open fire. It looks boiled. And it is all organs including the lungs. What can we learn about food from these amazing reindeer herders? First of all humans and reindeer have an unusual relationship. Reindeer were one of the last animals domesticated because they are practically domestic by nature. One researcher hypothesizes:
"Why reindeer were domesticated so late is speculation, but some scholars believe that it may relate to the docile nature of reindeer. As wild adults reindeer are willing to be milked and stay close to human settlements, but at the same time they are also extremely independent, and don't need to be fed or housed by humans."
Perhaps reindeer were one of the first animals to make our non-herding, Big Game Hunting ancestors scratch their heads and wonder about adding some milk to their diet. Who knows.
Boiled organ meats as dinner would be a tough sell in my house (including to me), but they are packed full of nutrients, enough to sustain a person in an arctic desert where spinach and avocados are scarce.
Go and see The Horse Boy. Think about eating boiled lung.
