Kајmаk or curdled cream is one of the most important and famous Serbian dairy products. It is obtained by skimming the previously boiled and cooled milk – cow’s, goat’s or sheep’s milk. The skimmed cream is layed in layers in small wooden buckets and each layer is salted according to taste. A piece of round flat wood or a small rock is placed on top. According to its maturity, the cream can be new or mature. If we want to get mature cream, it has to be left for up to two months and some more salt is added. The new cream is white and creamy, while the mature one is yellow and of a stronger taste. Kајmаk is used as a bread spread and it particularly tasty on a piece of hot pоgаča, or cornbread – it is delicious!
LANGUAGE
Kајmаk [kaj-mak] is a Turkish word. In Herzegovina and Montenegro a Serbian word skorup[sko-rup] is in use – something that made a crust, a crust. An expression, “to skim milk” or “get kајmаk” means to get the best of something.
GEOGRAPHY
The best known and really the best curdled cream is made around Užice, Čаčak, Krаlјеvo, Zlаtibоr, Gоč, Rudnik and other mountain households. Curdled cream is also made in the Middle East, in Turkey in particular, and in Iran and Avganistan.