Two hands churn mare's milk with a long wooden stick in a rope-bound wooden pail, a leather bag tied with braided cord and a wooden bowl of kumis sit beside it, and two horses stand on the grassland far off.
Kumis and milk drinks
Introduction
Fermented mare's milk, and the other drinks made from milk.
Kumis and dairy drinks cover kumis, made by fermenting fresh mare's milk, and other drinks made from milk. Kumis is a much loved drink of peoples such as the Kazakhs, Mongols, Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. To make it, fresh mare's milk is put in a skin bag or wooden barrel and stirred again and again with a wooden stick until it ferments, and it holds a trace of alcohol and tastes sour and sweet; a distilled, stronger milk spirit is also made. Solid dairy foods belong to Dairy Foods, and butter tea and milk tea belong to the tea classes with dairy foods as a secondary class.