Ancient koumiss: what is it?

The oldest drink of mankind smells of wormwood and freedom. He came to us from the vast steppes, from the nomads who quenched his thirst, and also considered him a panacea for many diseases and a sacred product.

It's about a drink called kumys. What is it and what does it look like? This fermented substance is whitish in color, frothy. It is made from mare's milk with the use of microscopic yeast, acidophilic and Bulgarian rod. Technology of preparation is genius simple, however it is rather laborious. First you need to get the mare's milk. Since the horse has very small udders, it is milked every hour. All nadae poured into a special container of cylindrical shape with a narrow top. It is covered with a lid with a hole: there is then inserted a pole (sbivalka), which ends with a cross. At the bottom of such a vessel, as a rule, a little koumiss remains from the preliminary batch. He becomes a leaven. There the fresh mare's milk is constantly added, and then the mixture is knocked down. Do this periodically, for several hours in a row for a couple of days. That's how they get koumiss. Of course, the recipe can change. Sometimes, when knocked down, fresh creams, salted horse fat are added to the beverage to increase fat content and improve taste. The keg for the preparation of the drink is completely emptied every 2-3 weeks. It is oiled from the inside with oil and smoked with twigs. This provides the final product with its characteristic organoleptic qualities.

So, koumiss. What is it, we already figured out. And what does he taste like? It's a refreshing drink, sweet and sour, alive. It is not stored for long, and it is virtually impossible to prepare it on an industrial scale. Thus, what can sometimes be found in the store, "koumiss" can not be called. A real drink, withstanding all the rules and traditions, can be hard-intoxicating, or, conversely, soothing. Depends on the quality of the ferment and the duration of aging, what will koumiss.

What kind of drink is this? Every schoolboy familiar with the story will tell you. It was known to the Mongols and Kazakhs in the Copper-Stone Age, as evidenced by archaeological findings. And the first written mention of him is found in Herodotus, the father of history. He wrote that the Scythians carefully guarded the recipe for the preparation of a special sour-milk drink. Also koumiss is described in the Ipatiev Chronicle, in the stories of Guillaume de Rubruk.

Let's look from a medical point of view on koumiss. What is this? It is a drink with the richest composition, which contains lactic, pantothenic, folic acid, amino acids, thiamine, cyanocobalamin, riboflavin, carbon dioxide, biotin, ethyl alcohol, vitamin C, macro and microelements. It is an amazingly useful product that is shown in various diseases. He has practically no contraindications. It can not be used by people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract of acute form and allergy to dairy products.

How to drink koumiss? As you wish! It quenches thirst, tones up, refreshes. And it is widely used in cosmetologists and folk medicine, in the treatment of animal diseases. Bon Appetit!