🥛 Öröm
Also known as: urum, Mongolian clotted cream
Mongolian "milk skins": a thick layer of cream often mixed with dried curd.
Öröm (urum) is Mongolian milk “skin”, a thick layer of cream that forms on the surface of milk. Whole milk is heated slowly, stirred and ladled for a long time so that foam forms on top, and then left to cool. During this time the fat rises and sets into a firm, yellowish crust, which is carefully lifted off. The richer the milk (yak milk, for example), the thicker and tastier the öröm.
Similar products are known in many herding cultures of Eurasia: Turkic peoples have kaymak, England has clotted cream. Set cream has been found in Mongol-period burials from around the 13th century, which points to the age of this tradition.
Öröm is eaten with bread and pastries, added to tea, and mixed with dried curd (aaruul) and sugar; it is also dried to keep longer. It differs from ordinary cream in being a firm skimmed layer rather than a liquid, and from butter in that it is not churned and keeps a milky taste. It is a very high-calorie food with a lot of saturated fat.
How it connects to milk
Links
- Made from
- 🥛 Milk
- How it is made
- ♨️ Boiling
- Where it is traditional
- 🌍 Central Asia
- Which peoples make it
- 🧑🤝🧑 Mongols
- Product type
- 🏺 Traditional dairy products
- Part of
- 🧈 Cream and butter
Frequently asked questions
What is öröm?
Mongolian milk skin: a firm layer of cream lifted from milk that has been slowly heated and cooled.
What is the difference between öröm and kaymak?
They are very similar products: kaymak is the Turkic name, öröm the Mongolian one. The way the skin is made is much the same.
Similar
🫖 Clotted cream · 🥣 Rømme · 🧈 Niter kibbeh · 🍘 Aaruul · 🥛 Cream · 🧈 Ghee
ℹ️ Dairy products contain lactose and milk proteins: if you are lactose intolerant or allergic to milk protein, ask a doctor.