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Fermentation Atlas

Fermented milk from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Yakutia, Kalmykia, Mongolia

Koumiss / qymyzқымыз

sour, sparkling, lightly alcoholic mare's milk. Made in 4 steps over 2.1 days – 3.1 days. The longest step, beat with a plunger, many strokes, takes 24 h – 2 days (Characterization of airag collected in Ulaanb…) and runs at 20–30 °C (Characterization of airag collected in Ulaanb…). Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Lactobacillus helveticus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step24 h – 2 daysReported[pmc4782302]Beat with a plunger, many strokes
Temperature20–30 °CReported[pmc4782302]Beat with a plunger, many strokes
AciditypH 3.3–5Reported[afzaal2021]Ripen

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
raw mare milk (high lactose ~6–7 %, low casein ~1 %, protein ~2 %, typical)
Starter: backslop (old qymyz or a seasoned vessel)

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.1 days – 3.1 days

Start
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pH 7–7.2

What changes: Mares are milked several times a day

Step 1 of 4
Milk mares several times a day
Time
2 h
Typical
Temperature
body temperature
Unconfirmed
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 7–7.2
Typical
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts

Output: mare milk (mid-June to early October in Mongolia).

Flavour
sweet, thin milk
Texture
watery (low fat and casein)
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

raw milk flora

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

Variants

  • Airag (Mongolia) (see entry)Mongolian form made in a khukhuur hide bag by the ger door.
  • SaumalFresh, unfermented mare milk (general knowledge).
  • Caracosmos (black koumiss)Rubruck's 13th-century "caracomos", a clarified, finer koumiss for great lords.
  • Cow-milk kumys (Russian industrial)Cow milk fortified with sucrose or modified whey to mimic mare milk, fermented with kumys starter of L. bulgaricus, L. acidophilus and lactose-fermenting yeast (general knowledge).
  • Chigee (Inner Mongolia)Acidity 168 ± 50.6 °T, alcohol 0.5 ± 0.7 %, lactose 4.2 %; yeasts Dekkera 54 %, Kazachstania 41 % (Guo et al. 2021).
  • Bashkir home koumissYeasts 8.6×10^3–6.4×10^5 CFU/mL and bacteria 1.2×10^6–4.6×10^7; lactic isolates reach up to 180 °T in 72 h at 30 °C.

Safety

Raw-milk ferment. Low pH and ethanol give protection.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Herodotus (5th century BC) describes Scythians stirring mare milk in wooden casks. William of Rubruck (13th century) describes cosmos and caracosmos. Botai culture (Kazakhstan) has evidence of mare milking but none of fermentation. The USSR kept ~230,000 mares for kumis in 1982. Sanatorium "koumiss cure" was used for tuberculosis in the 19th century (general knowledge).

  1. [wp] Wikipedia, Kumiswiki
  2. [pmc4782302] Characterization of airag collected in Ulaanbaatar, Journal of Animal Science and Technology 2016 (PMC4782302)paper
  3. [afzaal2021] Afzaal et al. 2021, koumiss review, Food Science and Nutrition, doi:10.1002/fsn3.2595paper
  4. [bigenc] Great Russian Encyclopedia, Кумыс (seen via a search summary)book
  5. [guo2021] Guo L. et al. 2021, Comparative study of physicochemical composition and microbial community of Khoormog, Chigee and Airag from Xilin Gol, Food Science and Nutrition 9:1564paper
  6. [laykova2021] Laykova and Serezhkin, Lomonosov-2021 conference abstract on Bashkir home koumiss (MSU)paper