The first night we stayed in a quaint cabin by a lake where the owners prepared a dinner of mutton dumplings. We then joined a local family in their ger, a round tent insulated with skins and felt, for fermented mare’s milk, of which Gala had bought two liters. The smell was overpowering. I grew up around racehorses, but never considered drinking their milk, let alone throwing yeast in and letting it ferment.