Shubat

Fermented milk products can "boast" of a centuries-old history - even in distant antiquity, the peoples of Rome, Greece, the Middle East, Transcaucasia and India consumed drinks that were made on the basis of milk from various animals.

For example, even in his Odyssey, Homer writes how the main character with his companions find mugs and buckets in the cave of Polyphemus Cyclops, which are full of thick sour milk. According to an ancient Indian proverb, if you regularly drink sour milk, you can live long. And I. I. Mechnikov himself - a famous Russian bacteriologist, embryologist and immunologist - in his works argued that Arab nomads, who are distinguished by excellent health and have great physical strength, feed almost only on fresh or sour camel milk.

All these characteristics can be safely attributed to the shubat - the traditional fermented milk drink of the Kazakhs, prepared by their camel milk. In Turkmenistan, by the way, he is called a chal.

The technology of making shubat is not particularly difficult. A sourdough is placed in the torsyk (leather bag) or wooden cadushka, to which fresh camel milk is added. The vessel is sealed and left in this form for a while for chipping. Moreover, in the process, the shubat is not shaken up like kumys, but only well mixed immediately before serving.

The finished shubat is distinguished by a snow-white color (like kefir), it is much thicker and fatter compared to kumys. By the way, shubat can be even 8% fat. In addition, depending on the exposure, it is customary to distinguish between young (one-day), medium fortress (two-day) and strong (three-day) shubat. The best, having a pleasant taste and a lot of useful properties, shubat is considered two to three days of aging.

The drink contains many minerals - calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, zinc, as well as vitamins V2, V1 and C, and the latter 2 - several times more than in cow's milk. Due to the large amount of lactose, the use of shubat provides nutrition to the nervous system and brain. But casein, which, as a rule, makes it difficult to absorb dairy products, is present an order of magnitude less than in other lactic acid products.

The beneficial properties of shubat are relevant in the presence of such serious diseases as stomach ulcer, asthma and tuberculosis. It contributes to the normalization of the work of the pancreas, liver, intestines, and also increases the body's resistance to infectious diseases.

As an excellent preventive and therapeutic remedy, shubat is recommended to be used for diabetes mellitus, vitamin deficiency, malblood, psoriasis, exhaustion, colitis and chronic gastritis. In addition, the distinctive property of shubat as a natural immunomodulator is known.