Kumis

Kumis ( KOO-mis, rarely KUM-is), alternatively spelled coumis or kumyz, also known as airag ( EYE-rag), is a traditional fermented dairy product made from mare milk. The drink is important to the peoples of the Central and East Asian steppes, of Turkic and Mongolic origin: Volga Tatars, Kazakhs, Bashkirs, Kalmyks, Kyrgyz, Siberian Tatars, Mongols, and Yakuts. Kumis was also historically consumed by the Magyars as well as the Khitans, Jurchens, and Han of northern China. Kumis is a dairy product similar to kefir, but is produced from a liquid starter culture, in contrast to the solid kefir "grains". Because mare's milk contains more sugars than cow's or goat's milk, when fermented, kumis has a higher, though still mild, alcohol content compared to kefir. Even in the areas of the world where kumis is popular today, mare's milk remains a very limited commodity. Industrial-scale production, therefore, generally uses cow's milk, which is richer in fat and protein, but lower in lactose than the milk from a horse. Before fermentation, the cow's milk is fortified in one of several ways. Sucrose may be added to allow comparable fermentation. Another technique adds modified whey to better approximate the composition of mare's milk.