Kaymak, sarshir, or qashta/ashta (Persian: سَرشیر saršir; Arabic: قشطة qeshta or قيمر geymar; Turkish: Kaymak) 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 Levant, Turkic regions, Iran and Iraq.

The traditional method of making kaymak is to boil the raw milk slowly, then simmer it for two hours over a very low heat.

The word remains as kaylgmak in Mongolian, which refers to a fried clotted cream, and with small variations in Turkic languages as qaymaq in Azerbaijani, qaymoq in Uzbek, қаймақ in Kazakh and Shor, каймак in Kyrgyz, kaymak in Turkish,[2] gaýmak in Turkmen, კაიმაღი (kaimaghi) in Georgian, καϊμάκι (kaïmáki) in Greek, and кајмак (kajmak) in Serbo-Croatian, caimac in Romanian.

In the Adjara region of Georgia, bordering Turkey, კაიმაღი (kaimaghi) is made from cow's milk in homes in the mountainous municipalities of Keda, Shuakhevi, and Khulo.

[citation needed] Kaïmaki (καϊμάκι) is a soft cream cheese that can be spread on bread or used in cooking as a filling in food and for desserts.

Iraqi geymar is usually made from the rich fatty milk of cows or buffaloes, which are prevalent in the marshes of southern Iraq.

Qeymar on kahi with date syrup or honey is a long-standing traditional breakfast in Baghdad and throughout southern and northern Iraq.

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.