Kaymak
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kaymak or Kajmak is a creamy dairy product, similar to clotted cream, made all over the Middle East, Southeast Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, India and Turkey. It is made from milk of water buffalos in East or cows in West.
The traditional method of making kaymak is to boil the milk slowly, then simmer for two hours over a very low heat. After the heat source is shut off, the cream is skimmed and left to chill (and mildly ferment) for several hours or days. It has a high percentage of milk fat, typically about 60%. It has thick, creamy consistence (but not entirely compact due to milk protein fibers) and rich, mildly sour taste (depending on how long it matured).
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[edit] Turkey and Middle East
Kaymak was very popular in Turkey and shops were devoted to its production and consumption for centuries as evidenced by a 1573 prohibition against women's presence in the kaymak shops. Though kaymak has declined in popularity in modern Turkish cuisine, compared to previous years, the best kaymak is still to be found in the Afyonkarahisar region where the water buffalo are fed from the residue of poppy seeds pressed for oil. Outside of Turkey kaymak is still used extensively. Kaymak is traditionally eaten with pastries, preserves or honey or as a filling in pancakes. Kaymak or qymaq in Afghanistan is used as an accompaniment with the flatbread, naan, or for the special occasion tea, qymak chai which is green tea with baking soda, milk and qymak as a topping. in iraq they called it "kaimar". Kaymak is also the thick foam at the top of a well-prepared Turkish coffee in Romanian, Bulgarian and Turkish.
It is related to the Arabic qishta (قشطة).
[edit] Southeast Europe
Kaymak is almost always produced in traditional way, in households, and can be bought only on open markets; industrial production is low and not of as good quality. The best brands come from mountain cattle farms. Arguably the most famous location of kajmak production Zlatibor mountain in southwest Serbia. Kajmak can also be matured in dried animal skin sacks, and this version of is called skorup.
It is usually enjoyed as an appetizer, but also as a condiment. The simplest recipe is lepinja sa kajmakom (fresh raw bread filled with kajmak) consumed for breakfast or as fast food. Montenegrins, Bosnians, Serbs and Macedonians consider it a national meal. Other traditional dishes with kajmak include Pljeskavica sa kajmakom (Serbian version of hamburger patty topped with melted kajmak), as well as Ribić u kajmaku (beef leg meat, simmered with kajmak).
[edit] References
- The Poppy Growers of Ismailkoy (2002)
- Davidson, Alan. Oxford Companion to Food (1999). "Kaymak", pp. 428-429. ISBN 0-19-211579-0
