Curt cheese

Kurt cheese belongs to the category of hard cheeses. It is obtained from curd milk, which is salted, pressed and then dried in the sun during manufacture of the final product. By the way, in a literal translation from the Kazakh language, the name of this cheese specific for our region is translated as a katyshek or kolobok, which fully justifies the appearance of the fermented milk product.

Kurt cheese is a national dish in many Central Asian countries, in particular in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. This product is no less popular in Western Asia (Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia). In addition, kurt cheese is made in Tatarstan, Mongolia and Bashkiria.

It is noteworthy that the recipe for preparing this cheese in each country is characterized by its own characteristics, however, according to tradition, it is prepared from cow, goat or sheep's milk. However, for some countries, the use of more exotic dairy products is still inherent. For example, in Bashkiria and Mongolia, kurt cheese is made from mare milk, in Armenia - from buffalo milk, and the inhabitants of Kyrgyzstan are used to using camel milk.

So, at the initial stage, local prostokvash is made on the basis of milk or, as it is called for the indigenous population, katyk - for several days this mass is put in a special bag from a dense cloth to separate the serum. As a result, a thick clot is formed, which mixes with salt and rolls into small balls.

By the way, the average size of traditional kurt cheese in diameter hardly exceeds 5 centimeters, while residents of Bashkiria and Tatarstan often form round trees the size of a small orange. Such rolled balls are laid out on a wooden board and carried out in the sun, only previously covered with a towel. The drying process lasts from 2 to 4 days.

For many centuries, kurt cheese has been an ideal product for pilgrims and travelers. It has increased nutrition and the ability to tolerate heat more easily, which is so relevant in the territory of sultry steppes. Another unambiguously important property of kurt is resistance to temperature drop and long-term preservation. So, cheese does not need to be kept in the cold and it does not deteriorate on the road for a long time.

In addition, the universal properties of kurt from the point of view of cooking are also known to people. It can be consumed as a regular cheese, for example, with bread or as a snack for beer. Thick nutritious soups are made from the kurt by simply dissolving the cheese in hot water. It is also able to replace the seasoning with salty taste in a vegetable salad.

I must say about one more interesting property of the kurt, which is the ability of this dairy product to suppress bouts of nausea. Therefore, those who suffer from this uncomfortable condition are advised to take kurt on travel as a natural and very tasty remedy for motion sickness.