I think there is a great job opening--if you speak fluent Mongolian

[DFW]

The Christmas market in Brussels, Belgium is open, and they have over a hundred stands, selling everything from fresh hot waffles to hand-made artisan candles and wood carvings, greasy food, and stands from all over Europe (one of my favorites is a family from Crete that brings olive wood carvings, olive oil and thick dark amber honey that Crete is famous for).

But every year, there is a featured guest country invited to have several of their own stands. One year, it was Canada, with fabulous small production maple syrup sold at several of the stands.

This year, it is Mongolia. So far, I have only seen a few of the Mongolian stands, with a small stage where performers play Mongolian folk instruments and perform that odd (to us) style of Mongolian folk singing they are famous for. Always a fan of so-called Mongolian barbecue restaurants, I thought I'd check out what their food stands were offering.

Prominently displayed was a menu headlined by a feature dish: rice topped with "Hot Sheep Offal."

HOT SHEEP OFFAL?? I don't know who translated that one, but even if the description was correct (and I'm terrified that it was), that is NOT the word I would use to try to entice customers to order a plate of their flagship ethnic food. Don't Mongolians know that we like Mongolian beef or Mongolian barbecue buffet (no matter how far from Mongolian reality they may be) and are far less partial to fresh hot offal of any style? I think there is a GREAT future for someone to work for the Mongolian tourism/culture ministry in translating Mongolian dishes in terms that might get us timid westerners to actually taste them.

[sl8]

1. They just need an ad campaign to change how it's viewed, e.g. ,"Offal isn't Awful". n/t

[FSogol]

2. Offal Waffles!

[Wounded Bear]

3. You've been going to IHOP again, I see...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Sounds just offal.

[DFW]

5. My bad for not having prepared myself for these comments

[Floyd R. Turbo]

6. Sheep on a shingle!

[DFW]

7. I don't know if looked anything like that

But if it did, that's one sheep that will be staying ON the shingle!

[Ron Obvious]

8. Ulan Bator!

That's the capital of Mongolia. A fact I throw out from time to time so that people think I'm learned, well-travelled and sophisticated.

Sorry to have mentioned it.

[DFW]

9. No shame in that. I knew the capital's name, too (there are many spellings)

I was once even invited there by the government, but it was right in the middle of the SARS epidemic, and the only connections there were a once-a-week route via Moscow, or else via Beijing, also in the heart of the SARS epidemic. So I decided to pass.