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Fermented milk from Nicaragua, mainly the Pacific area

Leche agria (Nicaraguan sour milk)leche agria

Leche agria is a thick, white sour milk eaten at breakfast in Nicaragua. Milk is heat-treated, cooled and soured with a mesophilic lactic culture for most of a day, then chilled; some makers still let it sour on its own, add yesterday's leche agria, or use lemon or vinegar.

Fully documentedFermented milk25 h – 35 h

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts are from a 2023 university trial in Juigalpa, which used gallon lots of milk. FAO gives temperatures and times but no amounts.
Whole cow's milkFresh, grade A milk, filtered and standardised in the UNI trial[fao-tmp][uni2023]
Mesophilic aromatic culture (Flora Danica)0.30 g per gallon of milkThe rate used in the 2023 UNI trial; the trial also tested a second culture, RSF-742[uni2023]
Starterdefined culture of mesophilic lactic bacteria; artisanal makers also let milk sour on its own or back-slop with the previous day's leche agria

Total time across the recorded steps: 25 h – 35 h

Start
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65–70 °C

What changes: The milk is held hot to kill its own bacteria

Step 1 of 4
Heat-treat the milk
Time
30 min
Reported
Temperature
65–70 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Lactococcus lactis
L. mesenteroides

Output: heat-treated milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

heat kills most of the milk's own bacteria

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Leche agria is a thick, white sour milk eaten at breakfast in Nicaragua. Milk is heat-treated, cooled and soured with a mesophilic lactic culture for most of a day, then chilled; some makers still let it sour on its own, add yesterday's leche agria, or use lemon or vinegar. Made in 4 steps over 25 h – 35 h. The longest step, ferment until thick and sour, takes 16–24 h (FAO 1990) and runs at 28 °C (FAO 1990). Mesophilic lactic acid bacteria and Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, L. lactis subsp. cremoris, L. lactis subsp. diacetylactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step16–24 hReported[fao-tmp][uni2023][mined-manual]Ferment until thick and sour
Temperature28 °CReported[fao-tmp]Ferment until thick and sour

What makes this one different

Leche agria is soured with a mesophilic culture at room warmth for most of a day. FAO describes yoghurt in Nicaragua and other Latin American countries as set with thermophilic cultures at 42 °C in 3 to 4 hours.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Dairy-plant leche agriaThe education ministry manual describes pasteurising at 85–90 °C for 3 to 5 minutes, cooling to 30–32 °C, adding a freeze-dried Flora Danica or R-704 culture and incubating 14 to 18 hours.
  • Artisanal leche agriaMilk left to sour on its own, soured with leche agria from the day before, or acidified with lemon or vinegar (UNI thesis).

Safety

The milk is heat-treated before souring, and the product keeps about 4 days at 4 °C.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

FAO records that it was first made not as a food but as a medicine to help the liver. In Juigalpa, Chontales, eating it is fairly new; many people once threw soured milk away.

  1. [fao-tmp] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, Latin America, 3.4 Sour milk (Nicaragua)gov
  2. [uni2023] Conrado Téllez N.E., Reyna Duarte J.J., Ramos Centeno M.D. 2023, Formulación de productos lácteos, tipo leche agria, pasteurizada y fermentada con los cultivos lácticos Flora Dánica y RSF-742, thesis, Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Nicaraguaother
  3. [mined-manual] Ministerio de Educación de Nicaragua, Manual del protagonista, Elaboración de productos lácteos (Dirección de Educación Técnica), section 4.6 Elaboración de leche agria, pp. 65–66gov