Milk and Dairy Products.
In the traditional diet of the Kyrgyz, among all products available to the general population, milk and dairy products were prominent. They consumed sheep, cow, mare's milk, and to a lesser extent, goat and camel milk. The Kyrgyz of the inner Tien Shan, Alai, and Pamir also used yak milk, which was characterized by high fat content. Whole milk was consumed very sparingly; it was given to children mixed with various types of cottage cheese and also for medicinal purposes.
Milk from each type of animal was processed both separately and in combination. Sheep and goat milk could be added, and according to Yu.A. Shibaeva, camel milk could also be included (Shibaeva, 1973, p. 109). In general, mixing milk from different types of animals was practiced among many nomadic peoples, especially in less affluent livestock farms. For example, among the Kazakhs, milk from cattle was mixed with camel and mare's milk only in small livestock farms, where there was a lack of necessary products.
All types of milk, except mare's milk, underwent heat treatment. It should be noted that the Kyrgyz also made ayran from raw milk, especially in hot weather, adding a small amount of water before consumption. This type of ayran is found everywhere. Fresh milk from large cattle was given to people suffering from stomach ailments.
Dairy food among the Kyrgyz was characterized by a great variety, mostly coinciding with the dairy foods of the peoples of Central Asia, Altai, and Southern Siberia. Immediately after milking, the milk was strained. Through further processing, ayran was used to make suzme and kurt. The first was mainly consumed daily as a drink - chalap, while the second was prepared in large quantities for winter storage. Kurt was consumed in dry form or crushed and diluted in warm water. Suzme was also prepared for storage. For this, suzme, after additional salting, was poured into leather bags - chana. Usually, the preparation of suzme began in late autumn when kurt could not be dried due to a lack of sunlight. In winter, suzme in the bag would freeze but not lose its flavor. Sometimes this type of suzme was called suzme katyk. Suzme katyk was used as an additional component for hot dishes: kesme kojo, zharmakojo, uzme (from dough) kojo, and others.
Among solid dairy products, kurt - sour cheese - undoubtedly held the main place. It was made from cow, sheep, goat, and also yak milk. The technology for its production was the same among all groups of Kyrgyz.
The Kyrgyz make kurt from pressed and compacted curd mass obtained by straining ayran in a special bag; it is poured into a cauldron, salted, and then thoroughly and evenly mixed.
From the resulting curd mass, small balls are made and dried on a special device called sere - a canopy made of matting. After drying, the balls are collected in a special bag and stored throughout the winter-spring period. Among the Kyrgyz, there are two varieties of kurt: boiled kurt and salted kurt. The difference lies only in the fact that the first method of preparing kurt involves boiling the curd mass, while the second does not. Kurt could be stored for years without losing its flavor. Wealthy, prosperous livestock farms had the opportunity to prepare kurt in large quantities for future use. This allowed them to survive the winter comfortably and avoid hunger during years of drought and mass livestock deaths.
There was also another type of dried food. According to Yu.A. Shibaeva, among the Murghab Kyrgyz, special cheese - ish was sometimes made from skimmed milk: the curdled mass was strained, rolled into cakes weighing 1-1.25 kg, and dried (Shibaeva, 1973, p. 109). However, these were made specifically for eating, not for storage, as they do not keep well.
From milk, they prepared a well-known type of food among Turkic herders called ejigei, uuz - one of the types of curd cheese made from boiled sheep or goat milk (Aitbaev, 1963, p. 15; Fielstrup, 1930, p. 288). It was most often consumed fresh, sometimes dried, and also prepared for long-term storage. To give it special flavor qualities, the balls were smeared with oil and spices were added. Sometimes ejigei was mixed with kurt, boiled, dried, and resulted in ejigei-kurt.
The main types of food obtained from dairy products are various creams - kaymak and butters - may. There were such varieties of cream: zhiyilgan, byshkan or sydyrma kaymak, cream taken from boiled milk, kam-kaymak or bal kaymak, cream taken from unboiled milk. Creams from both boiled and unboiled milk were mixed and subjected to heat treatment in a cauldron for about 2-3 hours, resulting in melted butter - sary may. It was salted (otherwise it would spoil during long storage) and stored in sheep's stomach. Butter was also obtained by whipping by hand or with a spoon (Shibaeva, 1973, p. 109). This type of butter was called zhuugan may - raw butter. It was not intended for long-term storage. It was obtained during unexpected migrations. Sometimes it was re-melted. The third method of preparation involved the use of wooden or metal butter churns. Butter was also whipped by shaking a bag attached to the saddle. While riding, the milk was churned into butter (Firshtain, 1975, p. 57).
Camel and mare's milk are integral parts of the diet of almost all nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppes. Among the Kyrgyz in the second half of the 19th century, mare's milk was more popular than camel milk. The consumption of camel and mare's milk was seasonal - during the summer-autumn period. Products from these were not prepared for storage. In prosperous farms, kumys was sometimes made in winter, especially for medicinal purposes.
In the traditional Kyrgyz cuisine, a whole range of dishes is distinguished, the ingredients of which are dairy products: suzme, kurt, ayran, zhuurat. Dairy products were used to season liquid dishes: kojo - soups made from various types of flour, kordoo - rice soup; atala - a mix of water, flour, and sour milk, etc.
Adding sour milk to various liquid dishes was called "katyktayt." In winter, kurt was used as a thickener, which added flavor and nutritional properties to the food. Sour milk, kurt, suzme, and kumys were also used to season meat broths. For example, a meat broth seasoned with kumys (sometimes ayran) was called ak serke or chygyr.
In wealthy families, malqam was prepared - a dish known among northern Kyrgyz mainly in prosperous households. The meat of a fat ram is boiled in mare's milk with the addition of sugar until it reaches a porridge-like consistency, and the separated bones are removed from the cauldron (Aitbaev, 1963, p. 18; KRS, 1985, p. 15). Sometimes fresh mare's milk was boiled with sheep's tail fat, and this dish was called "bal" - honey.
Dairy drinks also vary widely. It is possible to clearly distinguish two main types of dairy drinks: those made from heat-treated products and those made from fermented mare's and camel milk. The first type includes ayran, chalap (ayran or suzme diluted with water) and its variety chanyt (which differs from chalap in that it contains more water) and others. The second type includes fermented mare's milk - kumys (kymyz), which is extremely popular among all groups of Kyrgyz as a seasonal drink. Ayran is very popular: sheep and goat milk were boiled in large cauldrons, cooled, cream - kaymak was skimmed off, and the remaining milk was inoculated with a starter made from the remnants of old, already sour ayran. By the next morning, it was ready for consumption. Ayran was consumed both diluted with cold water and undiluted.
Mare's milk at different stages of preparation has various names, and importantly, any of them is suitable for consumption. For example, freshly fermented milk is called saamал. It was mainly consumed for medicinal purposes.
In the morning, without shaking, the liquid that has settled at the top is carefully removed. It is called tundurma, stronger than kumys, and was consumed in wealthy households. However, the main portion of mare's milk was used for making kumys. After each milking of the mares (every 2 hours), it was poured into a leather vessel called saba and periodically shaken vigorously. The fermented milk mass obtained in this way was called kumys. It was consumed by everyone, from young to old.
There was a drink called koorchok, which was mainly consumed in the pasture by sheep herders - koychular. K.K. Yudakhin provides the following description of this drink: "Koorchok - a drink of sheep herders, made from sheep or goat milk fermented with kumys or ayran" (KRS, 1985, p. 426). From goat, sheep, and cow milk, they also prepared kayrym - a drink made from a mixture of ayran and kumys; zhuurat - whole sour milk; suzme - strained sour milk; chiydem - ayran diluted with water; chanyt - ayran or suzme diluted with water; kymyraan - boiled milk (sour or fresh) diluted with water, and others. When available, tolokna was added to the drink before consumption, which added flavor and nutrition. Drinks were also made from thickener - kurt. From camel milk, only kumys was prepared - teyo kumys. In poor households - uy kumys - cow kumys, for which a small amount of mare's kumys was used.
In the second half of the 19th century, according to other historical sources even earlier, the Kyrgyz produced alcoholic beverages (Valikhanov, 1985, p. 343, 344; "Adlov, 1989, p. 349). There were two types of alcoholic beverages: bozo, made from boiled, fermented millet grains, from which vodka was distilled, and milk vodka - arak, chagyrmak was distilled from kumys in a special apparatus - kapka chorgo. There were also other methods of obtaining intoxicating drinks from kumys and bozo without distilling them. For example, to obtain a strong alcoholic drink from kumys, a purified root of the plant kuchala - chilibukha was placed at the bottom of the bag - saba. To strengthen kumys, the root of the plant ak kodol - round-leaved aconite was also used. The drink bozo was accessible to all.
The culture of nutrition among the Kyrgyz in the second half of the 19th century.