Sweet Irimshik

Irimshik (İrımşık) is a Kazakh dairy product made by curdling milk. There is a white, soft kind and a reddish kind that has been simmered for a long time, and the latter has a faint sweetness. Besides sweets made with added sugar, there is also a way of eating it that enjoys the sweetness that develops as the milk is cooked down.

White Curd and Red Curd

When milk is warmed and fermented milk or a curdling enzyme is added, it separates into solids and whey. In one example of red irimshik, the mixture is then simmered over low heat for a long time to reduce the moisture and deepen its color and flavor. Draining off more liquid and drying it gives it a form suited to carrying and storing.

Records of milk processing in Kazakhstan and the Altai describe the white and reddish kinds as being made from the same milk and ayran, distinguished by how long they are heated. How far the mixture is cooked down to reduce its moisture changes both its color and its firmness.

At the Tea Table and as a Festive Sweet

Irimshik is eaten with tea, and it is also sometimes combined with butter or grain flour. A cultural record documenting how Kazakhs living in Russia’s Orenburg Oblast make it gives examples of pressing the cooked-down milk solids, cutting them, and eating them with sour cream, or adding them to sweeten zhent.

Zhent is a sweet made by combining roasted millet with dairy products, butter, honey and other ingredients. An introduction to the food culture of East Kazakhstan gives examples of it being served with tea at celebrations for a child’s birth or for laying a baby in the cradle for the first time. A dish made from milk is combined with grain and fat and also served at the festive table.

Glossary