KYRGYZSTAN: Mountain Kyrgyz make a living selling traditional mare's milk Kumis

Record ID: 607320

  • Title: KYRGYZSTAN: Mountain Kyrgyz make a living selling traditional mare's milk Kumis
  • Date: 6th July 2011
  • Summary: SADIKOVA POURS MARES MILK THROUGH STRAINER INTO BOWL FOR DRINKING VARIOUS AS SADIKOVA GIVES BOWL OF MARE'S MILK TO OLDER WOMEN WHO DRINK
  • Embargoed: 21st July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan
  • Country: Kyrgyzstan
  • Topics: Quirky,People,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAC6IE4WZFEVFRI2PT4Y1P5YIWQ
  • Story Text: For people living in the remote valleys of Kyrgyzstan's mountain region, producing the traditional drink of fermented mare's milk, 'Kumis', is often the only way they can supplement their incomes in this impoverished Central Asian nation.
    The mildly alcoholic drink made from mare's milk is produced on a small scale by families with herds of just a few horses, during the spring and summer after the mares have given birth to their foals. 'Kumis' was originally produced across Central Asia by nomadic herders.
    Locals still drink Kumis, which has also become popular with tourists visiting the remote and beautiful mountain regions of Kyrgyzstan. But for the inhabitants of these mountains, Kumis is a means to keep their families out of poverty.
    The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says poverty remains high in Kyrgyzstan where almost three-quarters of the poor live in rural areas.
    Almagul Sadikova's family leave their village in the Issyk-Kul region each year and travel up into the mountains to pastures in the valley under the steep Barskon Gorge. The extended family of grandparents and four children, together with Almagul and her husband, spend the summer season here, milking their horses and making 'Kumis'.
    For this mountain family it is a crucial means of earning extra cash as Almagul's husband does not have a regular job.
    "Each spring we come here. My husband also does not work and until the autumn we earn money here. To buy the children clothes in the autumn. We milk the mare and a cow. We rent the cow out , we milk the mare and make kumis to sell to tourists and holidaymakers", said Almagul, stirring the fresh milk in a bucket.
    "The money we earn here we spend on food and clothing the children in the autumn and in preparation for the winter," she added, sitting inside the one-roomed 'yurt', a traditional Central Asian nomad's tent, which provides shelter for the whole family.
    Sadikova gives the 'kumis' to her mother and another older woman who visits their yurt to drink it for health reasons. Kumis is rich in trace elements and vitamins and is believed to have a beneficial effect on gastrointestinal function, metabolism, cardiovascular and nervous systems.
    Kumis is made by fermenting unpasteurized mare 's milk over the course of several hours or even days, constantly stirring or churning the liquid as it ferments. During fermentation, Lactobacilli bacteria acidify the milk, turning it into a carbonated and mildly alcoholic drink .
    Further south in the high altitude summer pastures of Suusamyr, some 170 km south of Bishkek, Kumis is sold at the roadside on the main highway leading from the Kyrgyz capital to Osh. Herds of mares and their foals graze on the rich grasslands at an altitude of over 3,000 metres above sea level.
    Marlen travels regularly to Suusamyr from the town of Karabalka, 50 kilometres down the valley, to drink Kumis as a medical cure.
    "Not long ago I fell seriously ill, I had bad flu and exhaustion, my immune system wasn't functioning. For the past two years I have been coming here and drinking mare's milk. The milk helped me get back on my feet and before that I could hardly move," said Marlen, drinking his cup of mare's milk surrounded by the small herd.
    The herd of up to 15 mares and their foals produce around 25 buckets of milk each day.
    Final-year high school student Makhabat helps with the family business, churning the Kumis in a big barrel inside their yurt.
    "The barrel holds 200 litres. During the day we collect about 20-25 buckets of mare's milk. We stir it with the cane for about an hour and a half continuously, then cover it with a warm blanket and the next morning the kumis is ready. The more often you stir, the better the taste," said Makhabat, as she stirred the milk with a wooden stick.
    Kumis is usually consumed cold and is believed to taste better, the more it is stirred during the fermentation process.
    At the bazaar in Bishkek market sellers do a brisk trade in Kumis, often regarded as Central Asia's answer to beer. But Kumis contains between 0.7 and 2.5% alcohol, making it milder in alcoholic content than beer.
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