kumiss-msg – 1/18/08
Mongol drink made from mare's milk. Making it. Getting mare¹s milk. Also Info on a similar beverage called Kefir made from Camel's milk.
NOTE: See also these files: Mongols-msg, horses-msg, horse-recipes-msg, beer-msg, beverages-msg, caudles-art, dairy-prod-msg, wine-msg, cheese-msg.
************************************************************************
NOTICE -
This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.
Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).
Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
************************************************************************
From: habura at vccnw13.its.rpi.edu (Andrea Marie Habura)
Subject: Re: Kumiss: thanks for info.
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
Date: Thu, 1 Apr 1993 13:40:08 GMT
Yeasts and Milk: The organism that ferments lactose isn't yeast; it's a
bacterium, generally genus Lactobacillus. Yeats can ferment other sugars,
like sucrose and glucose.
To deal with this, you might want to consider picking up one of the following:
Lactase supplements. These are common in drugstores; they're sold for the
use of lactose-intolerant individuals (like yours truly). These will break
the lactose down into yeast-fermentable sugars. Don't heat them above body
temperature; they're enzymes and heat-labile.
Yogurt with active culture. Try an organic food store for this. These can
be used as a starter culture to make a dilute yogurt sort of thing. I don't
think it would be alcoholic, but you might use it in conjunction with sugar
and yeast to get a thick, mildly alcoholic glop.
Rennin. This is found in the stomachs of pigs, and might be the "magic
ingredient" for real kumiss. It's commercially used for production of some
cheeses. They now have bacteria that produce it, too, so the price isn't
that bad. Try a dairy or a scientific supply house, like Sigma.
I would not recommend using the Lactobacillus acidophilus-supplemented milks
as a starter culture. Given enough time, these organisms produce a
hideous-tasting fermentation product; I imagine they would produce a kumiss
with all the taste appeal of toxic waste.
Andrea Habura
(who is usually Alison MacDermot around here, but Alison doesn't know diddly
about microbiology, and Andrea does. In this post, I'm using the word
"fermentation" to indicate "any non-aerobic process by which organisms
derive energy".)
From: corun at access.digex.com (Corun MacAnndra)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Kumiss: thanks for info.
Date: 1 Apr 1993 10:38:53 -0500
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
I've been waiting until I could talk to one of my Brothers about how he
made kumiss before posting this as I've never done it. Todric's recipe
is as follows;
Take skim milk (or regular milk, but watered down). Add lactose to this.
Mare's milk is much higher in lactose than cow's milk. Then use bread
yeast, not brewer's yeast, as a starter. This apparently has the desired
effect of producing the alchohol out of the lactose. Mix this in one of
those plastic water carriers (the five gallon ones with the handle and
spout), and hang it up so you can shake it vigorously from time to time.
This prevents the kumiss from turning to yoghurt. The spout can also be
opened periodically to burp it and release the pressure (or you end up
with kumiss mines exploding in camp).
I have been told that the kumiss bag was hung up just inside the yurt
door so that it could be shook by people going to and from the yurt,
thereby imparting a little of their energy into the drink as well.
Before the kumiss was drunk, a little was spilled on the ground as an
offering to the Tengri. To the best of my knowledge, this tradition
is still practiced today.
In the exhibit that came to the Smithsonian a few years ago from Russia,
entitled Nomads of the Eurasian Steppe, the were many kumiss implements,
including ladles and stirring spoons, as well as leather bags and pitchers.
Some of the ladles were highly decorated, and one pitcher seemed to be
made of a long necked gourd that was decorated with very intricate geometric
patterns of red and black. I usually bring to Pennsic the photos that I
was allowed by the Russians to take of this exhibit. Anyone interested in
seeing these (some really nice costume and jewelry shots too) may come
to Moritu camp at Pennsic and ask for me. My yurt is modelled on the one
that was in this exhibit. The Russians invited me back after the exhibit
closed to take measurements and photos of the inside, since no one was
allowed in it during the exhibit. A marvelous chance at research.
In service,
Corun
===========================================================================
Corun MacAnndra | Nothing's perfect.
Dark Horde by birth | I've seen it, and it is.
Moritu by choice | T. Koenig
From: corun at access.digex.com (Corun MacAnndra)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Kumiss question
Date: 3 Apr 1993 11:49:27 -0500
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
In article <2APR199311513494 at rosie.uh.edu> st1xe at rosie.uh.edu (Brown, Derek S) writes:
>Though I have never made kumiss, I am thinking of doing so and have a question.
>I don't know where to get mare's milk. I have seen the use of skim milk
>here on the Rialto but wonder is anyone has ever tried goat's milk instead.
>It can be gotten from most health food stores and has almost no lactose in
>it, which is why lactose intolerant people can drink it. Any ideas?
THe only place I know to get mare's milk is to find someone who raises
horses and talk them into milking a mare or two during foaling season.
They will probably look askance at you for making such a request, since
milking horses is not (to my knowledge) a very common practice in the
U.S. Still, if you tell them it's for medaeval research, they may be more
accomodating.
I have a friend who's family raises Shires, the biggest horse in existence,
but she has yet to talk her father into milking one of them. This is a
daunting task on even a horse as small as the ones common to the steppe,
and even more so on one as large as a Shire. She once told me of a foal
their mare had that stood nearly eleven hands at birth. That's a big baby.
In service,
Corun
===========================================================================
Corun MacAnndra | Yes, we have no bananas.
Dark Horde by birth | No bananas in Scranton, P A
Moritu by choice | H. Chapin
From: svartorm at netaxs.com (Emil Stecher)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Morgans/koumiss
Date: 19 Mar 1994 08:52:08 GMT
Organization: Netaxs BBS and shell accounts!
: : Second, has anyone out there tried/had/made koumiss, the Mongol
: : mare's milk stuff?
I have never brewed a mare's milk koumis, but long years ago Duke Sir
Asbjorn came up with a recipe for what I think of as pseudokoumis, and
which was reffered to around Carolingia as Electric Milk or the ol'
Moloko.
The recipe, as best I remember went:
Add 1 tbsp of honey to 1quart of whole (cow's) milk.
Boil until the milk skims.
Add 1/8 tsp fleischman's yeast when the milk had cooled.
Jug it up and wait a day or two.
The taste was, I seem to recall, like that of a sharp buttermilk.
This version is not particularly alcoholic. I liked it.
Some years ago a gentleman from Ostgard, as I heard the tale,
contacted the embassy of the People's republic of Outer Mongolia to the
U.N., asked for and received a recipe for koumis. You might try that option.
My understanding is that it went something like this:
Take a goat's stomach, fill it with mare's milk, sew it shut. Get
several huskies with hardwood staves to beat this for a while, then let it
sit until the curds and whey separate. Drain off the whey, mix it with
honey, then seal it up again. Go away for a month or two. When you come back,
it's koumis time.
Hope this helps some,
Barak Raz
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: Paul Placeway <pwp at cs.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Morgans/koumiss
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 05:38:42 GMT
<: : Second, has anyone out there tried/had/made koumiss, the Mongol
<: : mare's milk stuff?
A number of years ago, a friend of mine (AEldred) figured out a more-
or-less safe way to make the stuff. The basic idea is that some cold
lagering yeasts will work below the maximum safe temperature to store
milk, so after sufficient adjustment you can make the stuff in your
fridge.
I believe the basic idea was to take a bunch of cow's or goat's milk,
mix in some kind of sugar (I believe AEldred used lactose; honey may
be a good choice because of antibiotic effects), pitch in cold
lagering yeast, put the whole mess in a gallon glass jug with water
lock, and put it in your fridge. Check the water lock often since
most self-defrosting fridges tend to dehydrate things quickly.
I leave the question of whether one would *want* to make this stuff in
one's fridge to the reader. I did sample the result -- kinda like
fizzy, slightly alcoholic, not-sweet milk. Odd stuff.
-- Tofi
From: HAROLD.FELD at hq.doe.GOV
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Kumiss
Date: 24 Mar 1994 09:17:03 -0500
Organization: The Internet
Greetings from Yaakov.
I love Kumiss (my lady thinks the whole concept is gross
and, in a fit of prejudice, will not even remain around
while I am drinking it) and have brewed it a number of
times. I usually take a quart of skim milk, three teaspoons
of sugar, and some champagne yeast (wine yeast works too).
I brew at room tempature. Pre-start the yeast with some
commercial yeast starter before adding it to the milk and
seal. This will prevent it from going bad. The alcohol
generated will also act as a preservative. (I have stored
Kumiss for over a month at room tempature with no
ill-effects).
Note from experience- do not try this with chocolate milk.
I did once, the chocolate precipitated out and made the
texture fairly horrid.
Yaakov (who before marraige used to add kumiss to his
morning tea, but has given it up in the interests of marital
harmony)
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 18:35:27 -0400
Subject: Re: SC - kvas
> Yes, I am. It does clear up some of the questions about kvas and I
> almost always like to learn about new things even if not always
> willing to try them. Kvass is a lot higher on my list of things to
> try than Kumiss though.
I rather liked it myself (kumiss, that is). The most important rule
seems to be that if you can't get mare's milk, don't let anyone try to
talk you into using goat's or sheep's milk! Otherwise you'll end up with
an intriguing Romano cheese wine...nowadays cow's milk is considered an
acceptable substitute, apparently. The final product is rather like half
whey and half white wine, with about 1% alcohol.
Adamantius
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 1997 10:27:50 +22300454 (EST)
From: karen at addl.purdue.edu (Karen Stegmeier)
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: mares milk
No I don't think you will get busted for unnatural acts by ordering some
Mares Milk. Occasionally Vets will have some for orpahn foals but more
often they would have frozen colostrum and then use foallac a powdered
mares milk replacer, neither of which would be good for doing what I
think you are going to be doing. Your best bet is to call your
State equestrian association and tell them that you need to locate
someone with a nursing mare and see if they will sell you some
milk. You won't be able to get a couple of gallons all at once
Horses produce small amounts continuously during their lactation
rather than being used to only being milked a couple times a day like a
cow. There are also Nurse Mare farms, but as I said you need to check
with your state eq. association and they can direct you. I don't think
I would tell them why you need it, but that is up to you.
Also keep in mind that the anti-parisitic drugs that are given to
modern horses ussually say Not for horses intended for food I don't
know if this applies to the milk as well, but You will want to be
careful not to get milk that was taken the week after the horse was
just de-wormed. Some people de-worm monthly, some twice a year or so.
I have often said that I want to eventually do an all equine related
Arts and Sciences Pentathalon entry, but I think I'll skip the
equine related brewing and vintning idea. It is not to my tastes, but
best of luck to you!
-Lady Isabeau Pferdebandiger, Constellation Region, Middle
Date: Wed, 02 Jul 1997 19:43:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: ALBAN at delphi.com
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: mares milk
One of the odder book titles that I've run across and that I absolutely have
to read some day was along the lines of "Kumiss and Mongolian Ceremonies". . .
(Further bibliographic information will have to wait for a couple of weeks
until I get back from vacation, to my _real_ computer.)
Alban
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 09:11:26 -0600
From: mfgunter at tddeng00.fnts.com (Michael F. Gunter)
Subject: SC - Kumiss
I got to try kumiss a few weeks ago. As the new Elfsea Defender we were hosted
at all of the Cultural Camps on the site. In the Mongol encampment one of the
dishes offered was kumiss. I don't know if this was "real kumiss" or an easy-bake variation but I thought it was wonderful. It tasted a bit like vodka mixed with milk. This sounds disgusting but is actually pretty good. The milk smooths and cools the bite of the alcohol while providing that wonderful warm relaxing glow of hard alcohol. Not bad at all actually.
Gunthar
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 18:46:58 -0400
From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Subject: Re: SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #484
>Conchobar says:
> Ok, I foolishly agreed to make a soup/stew for our event in March.
>
>Me too! It's the first time I've volunteered for such a thing. The
>title of the event is "Cossaks, Mongols & Huns" and I don't have to stick
>to the theme, but it would be nice. Anyone have an idea what Cossaks,
>Mongols or Huns ate?
>
>Anne
Here's a little something for you:
"He had us asked what we wanted to drink, wine or terracina, which is rice
wine (cervisia), or caracosmos, which is clarified mare's milk, or bal,
which is honey mead. For in winter they make use of these four kinds of
drinks."(From "A Mission to the Great Khan," by William of Rubruck, c.
1253-4, found in Ross, p. 469.)
KOUMISS, A VALUABLE WINE OF THE TARTARS - 1819
1 part mare's milk 1/8 part cow's milk, soured
1/6 part water
Take of fresh mare's milk, of one day, any quantity; add to it a sixth-part
water, and pour the mixture into a wooden vessel; use then, as a ferment,
an eighth-part of the sourest cow's milk that can be got; but at any future
preparation, a small portion of old koumiss will better answer the purpose
of souring. Cover the vessel with a thick cloth, and set it in place of
moderate warmth; leave it at rest twenty-four hours; at the end of which
time the milk will have become sour, and a thick substance will be gathered
on its top; then, with a stick, made at the lower end in the manner of
churn staff, beat it till the thick substance above mentioned be blended
intimately with the subjacent fluid. In this situation leave it again at
rest for twenty-four hours more; after which, pour it into a higher and
narrower vessel, resembling a churn, where the agitation must be repeated
as before, till the liquor appear to be perfectly homogeneous; and in this
state it is called koumiss: of which the taste ought to be a pleasant
mixture of sweet and sour. Agitation must be employed every time before it
is used...
(From The American Economical Housekeeper and Family Receipt Book, by Mrs.
Esther Allen Howland, 1850.)
(Excerpted from A Sip Through Time, copyright 1994, Cindy Renfrow.)
Cindy/Sincgiefu
Subject: Re: koumiss
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 13:03:15 EST
From: Bojegei <Bojegei at aol.com>
To: stefan at texas.net
Hi Stefan, Aislinn Columba (sdale at mail.tqci.net) requested that I send a copy
of my Koumiss posting to you for the florilegium. So, in case your interested
in posting it, here it is. The source goes on to detail the mongols method of
preserving butter for the winter plus a method of making dried milk so they
could reconstitute it in the winter when they mares & cows couldn't be milked.
If you'd like to post that too let me know and I'll send it to you this
weekend.
It might also be of interest to other vinters due to the description of
caracosmos and reference to the lees of wine - this indicates (to me, at
least) that as early as the 1250's they were aging wine at least long enough
for the yeast (lees) to settle out. I've had some people tell me that they
drank wine while it was still fermenting!
Bojegei
aka Kate Bercaw
From: bojegei at aol.com (Bojegei)
>John Groseclose wrote:
>> Koumiss is fermented mare's milk. I've tried it... Didn't like it very
>> much, but then there are people for whom Scotch is distasteful.
>
>Do you perchance have a recipe? My cheesemaking husband would love to
>find one...
>
>-georg
The following is an excerpt from _The Journey of William of Rubruck_ who was
sent to the court of Mongu Khan. He started the journey in 1253 and the
narrative was written upon his return.
"Cosmos, that is mare's milk, is made in this way: they stretch along the
ground a long rope attached to two stakes stuck into the earth and at about
nine o'clock they tie to this rope the foals of the mares they want to milk.
Then the mothers stand near their foals and let themselves be peacefully
milked; if any one of them is too restless, then a man takes the foal and,
placing it under her lets it suck a little, and he takes it away again and the
milker takes its place.
And so, when they have collected a great quantity of milk, whish is as sweet as
cow's milk when it is fresh, they pour it into a large skin or bag and they
begin churning it with a specially made stick which is as big as a man's head
at its lower end, and hollowed out; and when they beat it quickly it begins to
bubble like new wine and to turn sour and ferment, and they churn it until they
can extract the butter. Then they taste it and when it is fairly pungent they
drink it. As long as one is drinking, it bites the tongue like vinegar; when
one stops, it leaves on the tongue the taste of milk of almonds and greatly
delights the inner man; it even intoxicates those who have