I just finished a book called “Genghis Khan and the making of the Modern World”. It was very good and I would recommend it. That isn’t why I’m posting. Apparently, the Mongols were very big on fermented milk. I cannot even begin to imagine how that would taste. I figured if I had any hope of finding someone that would have tasted it, it would be on this forum. I raise it to the collective wisdom. Anyone tried fermented milk?
Wow, never thought I’d find a reference to that book on this forum! It was a terrific book, very informative, well researched and more important very readable for a history book. I don’t remember anything about the fermented milk though, but it sounds terrible.
I found the following on the people’s reference:
It seems it is no easy task to milk a mare. I can’t even imagine it after a Friday of drinking.
Yeah Kumis is quite popular in Southern Russia and other South-East nations of the former USSR. A relic of Mongol past. From those who have had it (my mother) it tastes like kefir (buttermilk). I guess if you want to approximate it, go to your grocery, buy some buttermilk, add a little seltzer and vodka to it and you’re good to go. Mare milk isn’t such a rare product either…
On a second thought, I’m currently in communication with a man in Norway regarding old Scandinavian brewing traditions and he mentioned something like kumis as well. It seems that in Norway a version of Saison for farm workers involved fermented milk or mixing fermented milk with smoky beers of that area.
Andrew Zimmern did a Bizarre Foods episode on the Travel Channel in Mongolia. One of the things he tried was “Airag” or fermented mares milk. Here’s the link to the photos from the episode.
http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/b ... s/mongoliaJust get a plain yogurt and add a shot of vodka, shake well, and then strain it through a dirty gym sock into a glass - same thing.
