Kumis
This article is missing information about the nutritional qualities of the product.(July 2021) |
Type | Dairy product |
---|---|
Main ingredients | Mare milk |
Kumis (also spelled kumiss or koumiss or kumys, see other
Kumis is a
Even in the areas of the world where kumis is popular today, mare's milk remains a very limited commodity. Industrial-scale production, therefore, generally uses cow's milk, which is richer in fat and
Terminology and etymology
Kumis comes from the Turkic word kımız.[i][5] Clauson notes that kımız is found throughout the Turkic language family, and cites the 11th-century appearance of the word in Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk written by Mahmud al-Kashgari in the Karakhanid language.[6]
In Mongolia, the drink is called airag (Mongolian: айраг [ˈai̯rəɡ])[7] or, in some areas, tsegee. William of Rubruck, in his 13th-century travels, calls the drink cosmos and describes its preparation among the Mongols.[8]
Production of mare milk
A 1982 source reported 230,000 mares were kept in the Soviet Union specifically for producing milk to make into kumis.[9] Rinchingiin Indra, writing about Mongolian dairying, says "it takes considerable skill to milk a mare" and describes the technique: the milker kneels on one knee, with a pail propped on the other, steadied by a string tied to an arm. One arm is wrapped behind the mare's rear leg and the other in front. A foal starts the milk flow and is pulled away by another person, but left touching the mare's side during the entire process.[10]
In Mongolia, the milking season for horses traditionally runs between mid-June and early October. During one season, a mare produces approximately 1,000 to 1,200 litres of milk, of which about half is left to her foal.[11]
Production of kumis
Kumis is made by fermenting raw milk (that is, unpasteurized) over the course of hours or days, often while stirring or churning. (The physical agitation has similarities to making butter.) During the fermentation, lactobacilli bacteria acidify the milk, and yeasts turn it into a carbonated and mildly alcoholic drink.
Traditionally, this fermentation took place in horse-hide containers, which might be left on the top of a yurt and turned over on occasion, or strapped to a saddle and joggled around over the course of a day's riding. Today, a wooden vat or plastic barrel may be used in place of the leather container.[12] In modern, controlled production, the initial fermentation takes two to five hours, at a temperature of around 27 °C (81 °F); this may be followed by a cooler aging period.[13]
Kumis itself has a very low level of alcohol, between 0.7 and 2.5%,
History
Archaeological investigations of the Botai culture of ancient Kazakhstan have revealed traces of milk in bowls from the site of Botai, suggesting the domestication of dairy animals.[17] No specific evidence for its fermentation has yet been found, but considering the location of the Botai culture and the nutritional properties of mare's milk, the possibility is high.
Kumis is an ancient beverage. Herodotus, in his 5th-century BC Histories, describes the Scythians processing of mare's milk:
Now the Scythians blind all their slaves, to use them in preparing their milk. The plan they follow is to thrust tubes made of bone, not unlike our musical pipes, up the vulva of the mare, and then to blow into the tubes with their mouths, some milking while the others blow. They say that they do this because when the veins of the animal are full of air, the udder is forced down. The milk thus obtained is poured into deep wooden casks, about which the blind slaves are placed, and then the milk is stirred round. That which rises to the top is drawn off, and considered the best part; the under portion is of less account.[18]
This is widely believed to be the first description of ancient kumis-making.[19] Apart from the idiosyncratic method of mare-milking,[20] it matches up well enough with later accounts, such as this one given by 13th-century traveller William of Rubruck:
This cosmos, which is mare's milk, is made in this wise. […] When they have got together a great quantity of milk, which is as sweet as cow's as long as it is fresh, they pour it into a big skin or bottle, and they set to churning it with a stick […] and when they have beaten it sharply it begins to boil up like new wine and to sour or ferment, and they continue to churn it until they have extracted the butter. Then they taste it, and when it is mildly pungent, they drink it. It is pungent on the tongue like rapé wine when drunk, and when a man has finished drinking, it leaves a taste of milk of almonds on the tongue, and it makes the inner man most joyful and also intoxicates weak heads, and greatly provokes urine.[21]
Rubruk also mentions that the Mongols prized a variety of kumis he calls caracomos ("black comos"), which was reserved for "great lords".
In the 19th century, "kumyss" was used to treat
Consumption
Strictly speaking, kumis is in its own category of
Kumis is very light in body compared to most dairy drinks. It has a unique, slightly sour flavor with a bite from the mild alcoholic content. The exact flavor is greatly variable between different producers.[citation needed]
Kumis is usually served cold or chilled. Traditionally it is sipped out of small, handle-less, bowl-shaped cups or saucers, called
Cultural role
During the Yuan dynasty of China, kumis was essentially made to be the replacement of tea. Furthermore, Möngke Khan, the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, had a drinking fountain made in his capital of Karakorum, including kumis alongside Chinese rice wine, Scandinavian mead, and Persian grape wine as a symbol of the empire's diversity and size.[23]
Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, is supposedly named after the paddle used to churn the fermenting milk.[24][25][26][27]
The famous Russian writer
The Russian composer Alexander Scriabin was recommended a kumis diet and "water cure" by his doctor in his twenties, for his nervous condition and right-hand injury.
The Japanese soft drink Calpis models its flavor after the taste of kumis.[29]
See also
- Ayran
- Blaand
- Cacık
- Chal
- Doogh
- Mattha
- Chaas
- Lassi
- Suutei tsai
- Tarasun
- List of ancient dishes and foods
- List of dairy products
Notes
References
- ^ https://forvo.com/word/%D2%9B%D1%8B%D0%BC%D1%8B%D0%B7/#kk
- ISBN 0-520-24638-1.
- ISBN 0300047398.
- ^ Law p. 121.
- ^ "Kumiss - Define Kumiss at Dictionary.com". Dictionary.com.
- ISBN 978-0-19-864112-4.
- ^ "Airag – Fermented Mare's Milk – Mongolian Beverage". www.mongolfood.info. Archived from the original on 17 January 2024.
- ^ The spelling in William's manuscripts varies, and the most recent editor, P. Chiesa, prefers "comos". See Guglielmo di Rubruk, Viaggio in Mongolia (Itinerarium), a cura di Paolo Chiesa, Milano, Fondazione Lorenzo Valla, Mondadori, 2011.
- ISBN 0-8247-9352-8.
- ISBN 0-7007-1598-3.
- ^ Indra p. 73.
- ^ Mischler and Sosorbaram (2005–2006). "Ayrag". Mongolian Food Info. Retrieved 11 September 2006.
- ISBN 0-684-80001-2.
- ISBN 0-7514-0346-6.
- ^ McGee p. 761
- ^ "Mongol Arkhi – Milk Liquor – Beverage from Mongolia". www.mongolfood.info. Archived from the original on 17 January 2024.
- S2CID 5126719.
- ^ Histories, book four. Translation by George Rawlinson; available online at The Internet Classics Archive.
- ISBN 0-442-00869-4.
- ^ Sheridan, Paul (30 May 2015). "How to Make Kumis the Scythian Way". Anecdotes from Antiquity. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
- ^ Rockhill, William, translator (1900). The Journey of William of Rubruck to the Eastern Parts of the World, 1253–55. p. 67. London: Hakluyt Society.
- ^ Brush, EF (1882). Kumyss. New York: Tremain & Co.
- ISBN 978-0802715524. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
- ^ "История города". Мэрия (in Russian). Archived from the original on 3 February 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
- ^ "Bishkek Capital of Islamic Culture 2014". ICESCO-En. Archived from the original on 12 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
- ^ "In Kyrgyzstan, a taste of the 'purest milk imaginable'". Financial Times. 26 March 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
- ^ "This Asian country is betting on fermented horse milk to attract tourists". CNN. 21 July 2022. Archived from the original on 1 April 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
- ^ "Tolstoy, Leo – Confession".; Transliterated as "kumys".
- ^ "Story of "CALPIS"". Calpis. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
External links
- Media related to Kymyz at Wikimedia Commons