Question: Sour cream and Buttermilk??

Lujain · Joined: 16 Nov 2004 Posts: 1 Location: Dubai

Hi Everyone!

I am not sure what to use when I see "sour cream" and "buttermilk"in some recipes.

Well I know a cream that is sold here which is actually drained yoghurt.
And I also know Creme Fraiche..

For buttermilk, I am not sure, but is it sour milk??

Your help please!

Guest

Hi Lujain,
Buttermilk used to be the liquid left over when cream was churned to butter. Nowadays, its a commercially made product, in which bacteria is introduced to lowfat milk, causing it to thicken and producing a tangy flavor.
Sour cream was also traditionally made by letting fresh cream sour naturally the acids and bacteria present produced a generally consistent flavor and thick texture that went well with both sweet and savory dishes. These days, commercially produced sour cream is made by inoculating pasteurized light cream with bacteria cultures, letting the bacteria grow until the cream is both soured and thick, and then repasteruizing it to stop the process.
Sour cream cannot be made at home with pasteurized cream; the lack of bacteria in the cream will cause the cream to spoil instead of sour. If you have access to unpasteruized heavy cream, you can add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to 2 cups of cream and let the mixture stand out at room temperature for several hours until curdled.
I hope this helps.

monkey · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 4:00 pm Post subject:

i prefer adding fresh, but, strained, lemon juice instead of vinegar to my milk or cream. but, that's me. if you use the curdled dairy product immediately, you have a passable substitute for butter milk, it you let it site for a day or two, you have something a kin to sour cream.

creme fraiche is a passable substitute for sour cream. also, a generous dollop of creme fraiche added to cream and allowed to sit overnight in a warm place produces a rather passable sour cream.

i have been told that there is a "sour cream starter" that can be purchased. i believe it is much like a dry starter for yogourt but have never come across this item myself. has anyone else heard of this, or were my sources less than daily savvy?
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monkey

nothing brings primates together like a good snack!
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Erin · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 4:19 pm Post subject:

I have had the best results with lemon juice as well. I tried to find info about a starter but was not sucessful. I will keep checking!
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"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

"It's hot ham water."

monkey · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 4:52 pm Post subject:

i was just horrified to find out from an acquaintance that she adds gelatin to vinegar curdled milk to make it "instant sour cream." i have some serious doubts of the integrity of such a concoction in cooking. why would anyone do such a thing? her explanation: "it was a good idea at the time."
_________________
monkey

nothing brings primates together like a good snack!
www.TheresAMonkeyInTheKitchenAndHesGotAKnife.com

Alisa · Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 97 Location: Paris, France

I was transplanted from Los Angeles, to Paris, two years ago, and had the exact same questions. Whether or not you will find the same solutions in Dubai, remains to be seen. Here are my solutions for France. Buttermilk IS Lait Fermente. For sour cream low, not zero, percent fromage frais. Here it can be found in multiple percentage levels. 20%-30% has worked perfectly in all recipes. Good Luck!

monkey · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 6:40 pm Post subject:

how wonderful to know. is fromage frais readily available in the uk? or is there an english equivalent of sour cream?
_________________
monkey

nothing brings primates together like a good snack!
www.TheresAMonkeyInTheKitchenAndHesGotAKnife.com

Erin · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:22 pm Post subject:

Monkey,

Gelatin, Vinegar and Milk! I would have asked the same question. It sounds like something my husband would come up with.
_________________
"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

"It's hot ham water."

madameshawshank · Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 3:55 am Post subject:

boiled bones, skins, tendons of animals; vinegar; and milk! ...then again there's rennet, made from the digestive juices of slaughtered calves..

we are a creative lot, we humans, with our food habits ..I rejoice in our diversity...one man's meat being another man's poison...oh ok ..one person's meat etc.....being another's poisson...what a difference an 's' makes...

my dear father steers clear of sour cream because he thinks it's "off"... Laughing

still, we like what we like and know what we know...
_________________
"I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth. The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us." - James Gleeson

brighidsdaughter · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 233 Location: Canton, TX USA

This has been a very educational topic for me. Now I'll know how to manage if I'm ever lucky enough to live outside the US Very Happy

Monkey wrote:
i was just horrified to find out from an acquaintance that she adds gelatin to vinegar curdled milk to make it "instant sour cream."

Not so odd when you consider that lots of inexpensive store-brand yogurt in the US has gelatin added as a stabilizer. Doesn't make me like the idea, though, or be inclined to buy the stuff.