User talk:Wisconsin96/mycreations

Yaylag (also spelled yaylak, ailoq and yaylağ) - is a Turkic term, meaning summer highland pasture (from yay, meaning summer, and -lagh or -lağ, a possessive suffix, in Turkic languages). Its antonym is gishlag (also spelled as kishlak or qhishloq) a winter pasture (from kish, qish or gish, a Turkic word for winter).

As an preeminent authority on the subject of nomadism, Prof. Khazanov notes: "The specific significance of pastoralism is usually at its most apparent in the specialized mountain variant of herdsman husbandry; in Soviet anthropology this is often referred to as yaylag pastoralism..." In Western anthropology yaylag pastoralism more or less corresponds to the notion of transhumance (Transhumanz)

There are different variants of yaylag pastoralism, some of which are similar to semi-nomadic pastoralism, although most are similar to herdsman husbandry (such as mountainous areas of Europe and the Caucasus). However, in the Eurasian steppes, the Middle East and North Africa yaylag pastoralism often co-exists with semi-nomadic pastoralism and pastoral nomadism.

In the description of another Western specialist on nomads and pastoralism, Prof. Khazanov's classification system is the most modern approach, "classifying nomadic forms according to a society’s extent of migratory mobility, the primacy of specific animals in producing their subsistence products, and the level of symbiosis between nomadic and settled agricultural societies. He categorizes pastoralists into five types, ranging from “pure pastoral nomadism” to “semi-nomadic pastoralism,” “semi-sedentary pastoralism,” and finally to “distant-pastures husbandry” and “seasonal transhumance” (Khazanov’s yaylag – Khazanov 1994, 19-23)".

Yaylag pastoralism enables people occupied with agriculture in specific ecological zones to use other areas as seasonal pastures when they are at their most productive. During one part of the year the livestock is kept in mountain pastures and during the other parts is driven to lower zones.

Variation in mobile pastoral systems is commonly linked to both the ecology of herding and socio-political negotiations. These factors can contribute to significant changes in the way pastoralists manage territory and lay claim on locations in their landscape (e.g. pastures and campgrounds). In light of the environmental variability in pasture quality from year to year, however, ownership and control of particular locations and resources such as summer and winter pastures (ailoq and qhishloq) and seasonal cisterns (yekhdon) brought about various forms of social interactions, such as trading of resources, political alliances, and land rental, to meet the needs of domesticated herds.

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Chal - is a Turkic drink, a fermented camel's milk, which is popular in Central Asia, particularly in Turkmenistan. In the Near East and Israel the drink is known as shubat. In the summer chal is one of the staple foods of the Adai Kazakhs.

"Where Turkmen cuisine positively shines is in its dairy foods, from both cows and camels. I tasted the famous chal, fermented camel’s milk, and it proved wonderfully cooling in the intense heat. To make chal, the cream is skimmed off the milk, and the milk is thinned with water and left to ferment slightly. (That skimmed-off cream, when it too is fermented slightly, becomes agaran, a rich, thick and extremely nourishing treat.)"

Another traveler has the following description of the cooling effect and preparation of the chal: "Where Turkmen cuisine positively shines is in its dairy foods, from both cows and camels. I tasted the famous chal, fermented camel’s milk, and it proved wonderfully cooling in the intense heat. To make chal, the cream is skimmed off the milk, and the milk is thinned with water and left to ferment slightly. (That skimmed-off cream, when it too is fermented slightly, becomes agaran, a rich, thick and extremely nourishing treat.)"

The positive effects of chal are noted in several modern scientific studies, which have found that unlike the fresh camel and cow milk, fermented drink chal and shubat is characterized by virucidal and virus inhibiting properties both in liquid and lyophilized form, which are not affected by the shelf life. It's preparation description is also given:

"Chal and shubat: The “chal” is prepared by first souring it in a skin bag or ceramic jar, normally with a capacity of 30kg. Previously soured milk is added to the fresh milk. It is well mixed and each day, for 3-4 days, fresh milk is added to the mixture. Eventually the end product must have 3 to 5 times the original volume of “chal” that was initially added. This is the best ratio for the “chal”.

At 30°C the milk sours in approximately eight hours (cow’s milk sours within three hours at this temperature). The “chal” contains Lactobacilli lactic; streptococci and yeast."

See also:

 * Ayran