The Legend and History of Kefir

Legend has it that Mohammed gave kefir grains to the Orthodox people of the Caucasus Mountains of Turkey and Russia teaching them how to make kefir. They called them the "Grains of the Prophet" which they secretly guarded for it was believed if they gave away this knowledge they would lose the benefits of the grains. Kefir grains were so important to the Caucasian people they were considered part of their wealth so were passed from generation to generation.

Kefir translated means "feel good" or "long life" or "good life." Any one of those sounds really good to me.

After more than a thousand years of secrecy the knowledge of kefir started to spread. In the early 1900's Russian medical professionals took note of it's many benefits. So to get their hands on the secret recipe they had to employ underhanded methods to procure the grains.

As the story goes...

At the turn of the 19th century the Blandov Brothers, Russian dairy farmers, became obsessed with the marketability of Kefir and concocted a plan to steal the recipe from the Turks. Nikolai Blandov sent a beautiful young employee, Irina Sakharova, to the court of a local prince, Bek-Mirza Barchorov. She was instructed to charm the prince and persuade him to give her some kefir grains. Unfortunately, everything did not go according to plan. The prince, fearing retribution for violating a religious law, had no intention of giving away any 'Grains of the Prophet’. However, he was very taken with the young Irina and didn't want to lose her either. Realizing that they were not going to complete their mission, Irina and her party departed for Kislovodsk. However, they were stopped on the way home by mountain tribesmen who kidnapped Irina and took her back to the prince. Since it was a local custom to steal a bride, Irina was told that she was to marry Bek-Mirza Barchorov. Only a daring rescue mission mounted by agents of her employers saved Irina from the forced marriage. The unlucky prince was catted before the Tsar who ruled that the prince was to give Irina ten pounds of kefir grains, to recompense her for the insults she had endured. The kefir grains were taken to the Moscow Dairy and in September, 1908, the first bottles of kefir drink were offered for sale in Moscow. Small quantities of kefir were produced in several small towns in the area where there was a ready market for it; people mostly consume it for its alleged medicinal value. In modern times every Russian school child has a glass of Kefir every day upon arriving at school.

And as they say, my dear friends, the rest is history.