Al-Miedan, Al-Battar and White Gold are three names for the same village, located 12 km north of Kut, and the center of Wasit province. It is situated between the public highway east Baghdad and west of the Tigris River.

The village community is a conservative society, governed by customs and traditions. Some of them don’t like the name Al-Miedan. Others like the name Al-Battar referring to the Tigris River’s flow in this region, but the most recent name is White Gold, in reference to the production of the white, high class milk and milk products.

”We bought the land we live on by a decree from the Ministry of Finance after years of efforts,” Karim Al-Bihali, a resident of the village said.

“Until 1976, we lived in the Al-Jetaia region, and Al-Izaa, south of Kut,” he added. “The government forced us to abandon our livestock or leave. We decided to settle in Al-Battar or the white gold village.”

Mohammed Dhabih, another resident of the village said, “the numbers of buffalos in the village is estimated by more than 2000, which produce large quantities of milk that is used to make different food products.”

Um Hussein added, “if we are to sell milk directly, we boil it to sterilize it, and then we cool it with ice. As far as milk products, the process requires boiling the milk, cooling it, then trimming the upper layer after 3 or 4 hours to get the cream known as Gaymar. As for the cheese products, an ingredient called kuthra will be added to the remaining milk to get cheese in two to three hours. The same goes for the butter, which has its own kuthra.”

Um Hussein talked about making milk products, saying: “We start with milking the buffalo, and then through a number of processes, we end up with four milk products. They are cheese, cream, yogurt and butter.”

Umm Hussein added that “if we are to sell milk directly, we boil it to sterilize it, and then we cool it with ice. As far as milk products, the process requires boiling the milk, cooling it, then trimming the upper layer after 3 or 4 hours to get the cream known as Gaymar. As for the cheese products, an ingredient called kuthra will be added to the remaining milk to get cheese in two to three hours. The same goes for the butter, which has its own kuthra.”

“To make yogurt, we add another kuthra after we take away the cream and after five hours we have thick yogurt,” she added. “The process of making dairy products starts in the afternoon and goes until midnight. This is because the weather is good at that time, especially in the summer. Also, it is a way to have fresh products for the market in the morning.”