🥛 Mare's milk

Mare's milk is the milk of the domestic mare, drunk in steppe regions and fermented into kumis. Mare’s milk is very different from the milk of ruminants. It is low in fat (about 1–2%) and protein (about 2%) but high in lactose — about 6.5% — so it tastes sweetish, and in its overall balance of protein and sugar it is considered one of the closest to human milk. Caseins make up only 40–45% of the protein, as in breast milk, and the fat is richer in polyunsaturated fatty acids than a cow’s.

According to the FAO, about 30 million people drink mare’s milk — in Central Asia, Mongolia, and Eastern and Central Europe. Historically it is the milk of steppe nomads: it is made into koumiss, which in Mongolia is called airag and considered the national drink. Koumiss is a yeast-and-lactic fermented product and contains a little alcohol.

Cheese is not made from mare’s milk: it does not form a curd with rennet. Mares are milked often and in small amounts, because the udder is small and the foal stays close by. The FAO notes that the protein profile of mare’s milk makes it potentially suitable for some people with cow’s milk allergy, but a doctor should be consulted before such a switch.