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Fermentation Atlas

Fermented milk from Western and north-western Iran

Kurdish / Kermanshahi roghan (ripened doogh-butter oil)روغن کرمانشاهی (roghan-e Kermanshahi)

aged, salted, browned butter oil; FFA 0.39–0.41 % oleic, peroxide 1.32–1.35 meq O2/kg (lab samples). Made in 4 steps over 2 months – 6 months. The longest step, wash, salt and ripen the butter in glazed pots, takes 2–6 months (Faraji Sarabmirza R. et al. 2023) and runs at 18 °C (Faraji Sarabmirza R. et al. 2023). Salt is 10 % (Faraji Sarabmirza R. et al. 2023). Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–6 monthsMeasured[pmc9922134][fao-tmp-iii]Wash, salt and ripen the butter in glazed pots
Temperature18 °CMeasured[pmc9922134][fao-tmp-iii]Wash, salt and ripen the butter in glazed pots
Salt10 %Reported[pmc9922134][fao-tmp-iii]Wash, salt and ripen the butter in glazed pots
AciditypH 4.6–4.7Reported[pmc9922134][fao-tmp-iii]Make yoghurt (mast)
DocumentedFermented milk2 months – 6 monthsMore fermented milkMore from IranMore from Iraq

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
butter churned from mast/doogh made from goat
ewe or cow milk
Starter: backslop (yoghurt)

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months – 6 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
Milk sugarLactic acid90 °CpH 4.6–4.7shapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

What changes: Milk is made into yoghurt (mast)

Step 1 of 4
Make yoghurt (mast)
Time
until pH 4.6–4.7 (lab)
Unconfirmed
Temperature
90 °C
Measured
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 4.6–4.7
Reported
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: mast.

Flavour
sour
Texture
set yoghurt
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

yoghurt LAB

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

Variants

  • Ewe-milk vs cow-milk roghanThe ewe version had higher fat, pH, iodine and saponification values and more CLA.
  • Roghan (generic Iranian ghee, FAO 1990)FAO lists "roghan" (Iran) under clarified butter made from butter of spontaneously soured milk, clarified at 110–120 °C. The salted multi-month ripening belongs to the Kurdish/Kermanshahi form.

Safety

Long salted ripening relies on salt and low water activity. Ewe-milk roghan had more conjugated linoleic acid than cow-milk roghan.

History and sources

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

Faraji Sarabmirza et al. (2023), citing Batmanglij (1999), say it has been made since the Achaemenid era.

  1. [pmc9922134] Faraji Sarabmirza R. et al. 2023, An investigation on conjugated linoleic acid content, fatty acid composition, and physicochemical characteristics of Iranian Kurdish butter oil, Food Sci Nutr 11:2357paper
  2. [iranicaonline] Encyclopaedia Iranica (doogh, churning in mashk; via search)book
  3. [fao-tmp-iii] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, section III "Butter and milk-fat products", clarified butter (roghan, Irangov