Kaymak, sarshir, or qashta/ashta ( ) ( or ) is a creamy dairy food similar to clotted cream, made from the milk of water buffalo, cows, sheep, or goats in Central Asia, some Balkan countries, some Caucasus countries, the countries of the Levant, Turkic regions, Iran and Iraq. In Poland, the name refers to a confection similar to dulce de leche instead. The traditional method of making kaymak is to boil the raw milk slowly, then simmer it for two hours over a very low heat. After the heat source is shut off, the cream is skimmed and left to chill (and mildly ferment) for several hours or days. Kaymak has a high percentage of milk fat, typically about 60%. It has a thick, creamy consistency (not entirely compact, because of milk protein fibers) and a rich taste. Etymology The word kaymak has Central Asian Turkic origins, possibly formed from the verb , which means 'melt' and 'molding of metal' in Turkic. The first written records of the word kaymak is in the well-known book of Mahmud al-Kashgari, . The word remains as in Mongolian, which refers to a fried clotted cream, and with small variations in Turkic languages as in Azerbaijani, in Uzbek, in Kazakh and Shor, in Kyrgyz, in Turkish, in Turkmen, () in Georgian, () in Greek, and кајмак (kajmak) in Serbo-Croatian, caimac in Romanian. This dairy food is called sarshir in Iran. This word means 'something which stands on the top of the milk'. They use this name because after boiling milk, a layer of fat stands on the top of the boiled milk. Turkey Shops in Turkey have been devoted to kaymak production and consumption for centuries. Kaymak is mainly consumed today for breakfast along with the traditional Turkish breakfast. One type of kaymak is found in the Afyonkarahisar region where the water buffalo are fed from the residue of poppy seeds pressed for oil. Kaymak is traditionally eaten with baklava and other Turkish desserts, fruit preserve and honey or as a filling in pancakes. Balkans Known as , it is almost always made at home, though commercial production is on the rise. Kajmak is most expensive when freshest—only a day or two old. It can keep for weeks in the refrigerator but becomes harder and loses quality. Kajmak can also be matured in dried animal skin sacks; one variation is called . also describes