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Fermented milk from Mozambique

Masse (Mozambican partly drained sour milk)masse

Masse is the Mozambican member of a south-east African family of partly drained sour milks. Raw milk sours in a calabash, gourd or clay pot, some whey is taken off and fresh milk added until the pot is full of curd. FAO notes that in Mozambique the milk is curdled with a plant enzyme; the plant is not named.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Masse itself. Its own sources do not record how it is made, so the steps and scenes below are those of Maziwa mgando, the closest documented fermented milk ferment, shown as a guide to the method, not as a record of Masse.

Short entryFermented milk10 days – 11 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo fixed amounts are recorded. The container size sets the batch, and filling it takes about a week.
Raw whole cow or zebu milkNot heated[fao-tmp-ii]
A plant (vegetable) enzymeNamed only as a vegetable enzyme; the plant is not identified[fao-tmp-ii]
Starterspontaneous souring from the milk's own bacteria, with a plant enzyme to curdle it

Total time across the steps of Maziwa mgando: 10 days – 11 days

Start
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What changes: Embers of a chosen wood smoke the inside of the milk vessel

Step 1 of 4 · steps of Maziwa mgando
Smoke the milk vessel (pastoralist practice)
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacilli
Lactic acid bacteria

Among pastoralists such as the Maasai, milk vessels are smoked with specific woods that make embers. Ryoba and Kurwijila say the smoke appears to improve colour and flavour and to extend shelf life to 20 days to 3 months. This step is a pastoralist practice and not every household does it. Output: smoked vessel.

Flavour
smoky
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

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

Masse is the Mozambican member of a south-east African family of partly drained sour milks. Raw milk sours in a calabash, gourd or clay pot, some whey is taken off and fresh milk added until the pot is full of curd. FAO notes that in Mozambique the milk is curdled with a plant enzyme; the plant is not named. Made in 2 steps over 10 days – 11 days. The longest step, drain some whey, add fresh milk, repeat, takes 7 days (FAO 1990).

Key numbers
Main step7 daysReported[fao-tmp-ii]Drain some whey, add fresh milk, repeat

What makes this one different

In the FAO account, masse is curdled by a vegetable enzyme, a remark FAO makes for Mozambique alone in its group.

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw, unheated milk. CDC says raw milk and products made from it can carry Campylobacter, E. coli, Listeria, Brucella and Salmonella, with higher risk of serious illness for pregnant women, adults over 65, children under 5 and people with weak immune systems.

History and sources

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

FAO suggests these concentrated sour milks were developed by cattle-herding peoples as a way to keep milk, and may be an ancestor of cheese.

  1. [fao-tmp-ii] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, section II "Acidified milks", group 1.4 (partly drained or concentrated sour milks) and its remarksgov
  2. [cdc-raw-milk] CDC, Raw Milk, Food Safety (page of 31 January 2025; raw milk and products made from it can carry Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria, Brucella and Salmonella)gov