The production of kumiss is a very labor-intensive and expensive business, if you prepare it according to the rules. Of course, they make kumiss, but the most delicious and healthy one is still traditionally prepared from mare's milk.
Koumiss from milk
The technology for preparing this drink is simple.Kumis is obtained by fermenting mare's milk with kumis starter. It is a mixture of Bulgarian and acidophilic lactic acid bacillus and yeast. The very first task in making kumis is to collect the mare's milk. Mares are milked often - 4-6 times a day, milk is produced intensively, but mares give it little by little, and unlike cows, their milking period is very limited: the milkmaid has only about twenty seconds to collect the mare's milk and she needs to milk very, very quickly. Then the milk is poured into a clean wooden block, made, for example, from linden. This is necessary so that the kumis does not have foreign smells and tastes. Starter based on strong mature kumis is added to the milk. And at a temperature of 18-20 degrees, this mixture is kneaded for an hour or more. Kumiss, unlike other fermented milk products, is formed by mixed fermentation - alcoholic and lactic acid. During kumiss fermentation, protein breaks down into easily digestible substances: peptones, albumins, polypeptides. And milk sugar turns into lactic acid, ethyl alcohol, carbon dioxide and a number of aromatic substances. All this explains the high nutritional properties of kumiss, its easy digestibility, pleasant taste and aroma.
After mixing, this mixture is poured,sealed in half-liter glass bottles and left in a warm room - here the process of maturation and aeration, self-carbonation begins. Depending on the maturation time, kumiss is divided into 3 categories: weak (5-6 hours have passed since the starter); medium (that which has matured for 1-2 days); strong (fermented for about 3 days). Kumiss contains less fat and protein than cow's milk, but it has 1.5 times more sugar. Weak kumiss contains up to 1 percent alcohol, medium - up to 1.75, three-day kumiss from natural mare's milk can show up to 4.5-5% alcohol. Kumiss is not in vain called a living drink: from the moment of souring mare's milk to the preparation of kumis, miraculous metamorphoses of its physicochemical properties, biochemical composition and microbiological structure occur. Kumiss has long been known as a powerful natural immunostimulant. Antibiotic substances that yeast forms in it during fermentation are active against tuberculosis bacilli. Therefore, two centuries ago it was a very popular remedy. Kumiss is a source of unsaturated low-molecular fatty acids, including linoleic and linolenic, which are considered essential. In addition, it contains calcium salts, phosphorus, trace elements of rare metals and vitamins. Moreover, the peculiarity of mare's milk is its higher vitamin content (10 times (!) more than in cow's milk): one liter of kumiss is a storehouse of more than 200 mcg of vitamin B1, 375 mcg of B2, 256 mcg of folic acid and 2010 mcg of pantothenic acid, etc. Kumiss is rich in vitamins A, E, nicotinic acid, biotin and especially vitamin C (70-120 mg per 1 l). The nutrients of kumiss are absorbed almost completely (up to 95%). In addition, its use dramatically increases the digestibility of proteins and fats contained in other foods.
