Maksym

Ingredients

Base

• 300 gbarley flour
• 100 gwheat flour
• 3 litreswater
• 1 tspsalt

Starter

• 3 tbspraw barley or wheat flour
• 2 tbspof a previous batch, if you have it

Optional

• a little sugar
• a spoonful of cream, for serving

Directions

1. Toast the barley flour in a dry heavy pan over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until it turns golden brown and smells nutty.
2. This takes 10 to 15 minutes and it cannot be hurried or left alone. Toasted flour is the flavour of maksym and pale untoasted flour gives a bland, floury drink.
3. Stop the moment it smells like toasted bread. A shade too far and the bitterness carries right through the finished drink.
4. Tip the toasted flour out of the hot pan at once so it stops cooking.
5. Whisk the toasted barley flour and the wheat flour into cold water until completely smooth.
6. Cold water and a whisk. Toasted flour into hot water lumps instantly and the lumps never disperse.
7. Bring it to a gentle simmer, stirring, and cook 20 to 30 minutes until it thickens slightly and the raw taste has gone.
8. Add the salt, which sharpens the toasted grain and keeps the finished drink from tasting flat.
9. Cool it to lukewarm, around 30 to 35°C (86 to 95°F).
10. Cool it fully before the starter goes in, because hot liquid kills the lactic bacteria you are relying on.
11. Stir in the raw flour, and a little of a previous batch if you have any.
12. The raw flour brings the wild lactic culture. A spoonful of an old batch is faster and far more predictable, and this is how it is kept going in a household.
13. Cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place for 24 to 48 hours, stirring once a day.
14. Taste from 24 hours. It should be pleasantly sour with a toasted-grain background, thin enough to drink and faintly fizzy.
15. Strain it if you want it smooth, then chill it hard.
16. Serve it very cold, which is the whole point of it in a Kyrgyz summer.
17. Shake or stir before pouring, because the grain settles solidly to the bottom.
18. It is sold from chilled street tanks in Bishkek and across Kyrgyzstan through the summer, poured into cups by the litre.
19. A bottled commercial version turned a home ferment into a national soft drink, and the two are both drunk widely.
20. Chalap and jarma are the related Kyrgyz grain and yoghurt drinks, and the names shift from region to region.

Technique

• It is filling and mildly nourishing rather than a light refreshment.
• The alcohol content is negligible and it is drunk by everyone.
• Refrigerating it halts the ferment and it keeps about a week.

Substitutions

• Wheat flour alone if barley flour is unavailable, though the flavour is plainer.
• A spoonful of live yoghurt as a starter, which is reliable and slightly different in character.

Variations

• Jarma, made with coarser cracked grain.
• Served with a spoonful of cream stirred in.
• Left longer for a sharper drink.

History

Fermented barley drink sold from chilled street tanks; a bottled version turned it into a national soft drink.

Frequently asked questions

What is Maksym?

Maksym is a drink from Kyrgyzstan: fermented cereal drink, cooling and slightly sour. Fermented barley drink sold from chilled street tanks; a bottled version turned it into a national soft drink.

How long does Maksym take to make?

Maksym takes 20 min plus 36 hr fermenting of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 3 litres. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Maksym?

Yes, within limits. Wheat flour alone if barley flour is unavailable, though the flavour is plainer. A spoonful of live yoghurt as a starter, which is reliable and slightly different in character.

What is the most important thing to get right in Maksym?

Cold water and a whisk. Toasted flour into hot water lumps instantly and the lumps never disperse.