Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Fermented milk from Kenya

Turkana gourd sour milk (FAO "akile nukadwarak")akile nukadwarak (FAO 1990)

FAO lists akile nukadwarak among the Kenyan sour milks made by leaving the day's spare milk in a covered container for usually 24 to 48 hours, with no starter. The Turkana are reported to smoke their milk gourds; linking this FAO name to the Turkana is an inference.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Turkana gourd sour milk itself.

Short entryFermented milk24 h – 2 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo amounts are given; the day's leftover milk sets the batch.
Spare milk from the dayRaw, or more rarely boiled (FAO notes Kenyan milk is usually boiled first)[fao-tmp-ii]
Starterspontaneous, from the milk or the bacteria on the vessel walls

Total time across the recorded steps: 24 h – 2 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countMoulds

What changes: The milk gourd is smoked before milk goes in

Step 1 of 3
Smoke the milk gourd
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: smoked gourd.

Flavour
smoky
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

smoke helps keep moulds off the vessel

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

FAO lists akile nukadwarak among the Kenyan sour milks made by leaving the day's spare milk in a covered container for usually 24 to 48 hours, with no starter. The Turkana are reported to smoke their milk gourds; linking this FAO name to the Turkana is an inference. Made in 3 steps over 24 h – 2 days. The longest step, leave the milk to sour, takes 24 h – 2 days (FAO 1990) and runs at 22 °C (FAO 1990).

Key numbers
Main step24 h – 2 daysReported[fao-tmp-ii]Leave the milk to sour
Temperature22 °CReported[fao-tmp-ii]Leave the milk to sour

What makes this one different

A plain spontaneous gourd sour milk; FAO groups it with mala and similar Kenyan sour milks, and smoking the gourd is its main local touch.

Related ferments

Safety

The souring is uncontrolled, so quality varies. FAO notes Kenyan milk is usually boiled before souring. If the milk is not boiled, it is raw milk. The US FDA links raw milk to illness from Listeria, Campylobacter, Salmonella and E. coli, and says the elderly, immune-compromised people, children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable.

History and sources

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

Galvin (1985) reported that the Turkana smoke their milk gourds (cited in Mureithi et al. 2000).

  1. [fao-tmp-ii] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, section II 1.1 (akile nukadwarak, Kenya)gov
  2. [mureithi2000] Mureithi W. et al. 2000, Management of trees used in mursik (fermented milk) production in Trans-Nzoia District, Kenya, Journal of Ethnobiology 20(1):75–91 (cites Galvin 1985 on Turkana gourd smoking)paper
  3. [fda-raw-milk] US Food and Drug Administration, Food Safety and Raw Milkgov