羊のクルト：カザフスタンの乳製品の伝統

Sheep Kurt : The Tradition of Kazakh Dairy

Until the early 20th century, sheep’s milk was the primary source of all dairy products in Kazakhstan. By the late 17th century, horses and sheep constituted the bulk of livestock, while cattle accounted for only 1 percent. Even in the 1920s, cow’s milk consumption remained at just 10 percent of total dairy consumption. In the nomadic way of life, cattle were not considered valuable livestock because they required significant care and hindered long-distance travel. Nutritionally, sheep’s milk is superior to cow’s milk in terms of calories, fat, and protein.

However, during the era of Russian colonization, the spread of cattle as common livestock was driven by efforts to strengthen relations with neighboring countries, sedentarization policies, and changes in trade commodities. This trend accelerated further during the Soviet era, as industrialization, factory processing, and the standardization of raw materials took precedence, leading cow’s milk to become the mainstream raw material suited to the system. Sheep, on the other hand, came to be raised primarily for meat and wool, and by the 1960s, Kazakhstan had become known as a producer of wool and mutton. Sheep’s milk, once central to nomadic life, thus gradually disappeared from people’s daily lives.

While writing an article about kurt, historian Aliya Bolatkhan found himself wanting to taste it for himself. Despite living in Kazakhstan, he had never once tasted sheep’s kurt. While kurt made from cow’s, camel’s, and goat’s milk is readily available in the market, sheep’s kurt alone was nowhere to be found. Why had something that had been the foundation of nomadic culture until just a century ago vanished? He began searching for regions where sheep milking still continued and eventually found an elderly couple living in South Kazakhstan.

　This elderly couple, along with their grandchild, showed him the process of milking sheep. They select a sheep with full udders, grab its hind legs, and pull it close. The sheep struggles a little but soon calms down. Holding a bucket, they sit beside it and begin milking. The milk falls into the bucket with a faint sound. This scene quietly reflects the wisdom passed down from elders to the young, as well as the time shared by humans and animals on the pasture.

The milking season begins in early August. First, the lambs are separated from their mothers during this time. Even after the lambs are separated, it takes three to four weeks for the ewes to stop producing milk, so farmers can milk the sheep during that period. It is said among the people that doing it any other way would be harmful to the animals. During this period, the milk from 250 to 300 sheep yields about 70 kilograms of kurt and 2 to 3 batches of 5 to 6 kilograms each of preserved butter called “karyn mai.” The family continues to follow the traditional seasonal migration, moving to the mountains in summer and to the drylands at the foot of the mountains in winter.

　If they were to milk throughout the season, their output would likely increase. However, that is not the purpose of this work. It is a sacred knowledge passed down through hands, gestures, and the everyday rhythm of pasture life—a participation in the natural cycle of caring for the animals and maintaining the bond between humans and the flock. Now, a century after the days when milking sheep was a routine part of daily life, this family is becoming an increasingly rare exception.