Kurt and Sheep’s Milk: A Vanishing Kazakh Tradition ^{CEFR B2}

This story by Aliya Bolatkhan, translated from Russian by Beatrice Learmouth, first appeared in vlast.kz on September 17, 2025 and was republished on Global Voices. It traces how butter and kurt, a dried cheese made from fermented sheep's milk, were once widespread across Kazakhstan and how only a few communities in the south still practise these crafts.

Historically, sheep's milk was the base for most dairy products. In the late 17th century horses and sheep dominated herds while cows and camels made up roughly 1 percent of livestock. A 1922 ethnographic survey found cow's milk represented about 10 percent of a Kazakh family's dairy consumption. During Russian colonization and the Soviet era, cows became more common because they better suited resettlement policies, changing trade patterns, and industrial processing.

The author and her team travelled into a valley reachable only on horseback and visited the home of grandparents Nesipkhan and Rozikul. The summer mountain pasture was too steep for a visit, so the flock was brought down to the village at the end of summer. Elzhas, the grandson, helped catch a sheep while Rozikul milked it into a metal bucket; she pointed out animals to pick, showing the quiet, practiced exchange of knowledge between generations. Nesipkhan, who has raised sheep since 1981, follows the traditional seasonal movement to mountain pastures in summer and the desert in winter. He recalled, “For thirty years, I had to fight wolves to protect the flock. But three years ago, they all disappeared.”

The milking season starts in early August when young lambs are separated from their mothers. After separation farmers milk every other day, then every two days, and after three to four weeks the animals largely dry up. Sheep produce the most milk in the first 60 days of lactation. Milking 250–300 sheep in a season can yield around 70kg of kurt and a couple of karyn mai (butter stored in a sheep’s stomach), each weighing roughly 5–6kg. Experts say sheep's milk is not produced on an industrial scale in Kazakhstan and that sheep are mainly bred for meat. The story highlights that milking is both an economic activity and a traditional skill passed by hands and gestures, and it remains unclear whether the practice will spread beyond a few communities.