Fermented milk

Also called A38, A-38, A-38 surmælk.

mild acidophilus soured milk

1. High-pasteurise90 °C
2. Sour with L. acidophilus37 °C

Safety: Low risk.

• da.wikipedia, A38

Also called acidophilus milk, Bacillus acidophilus milk, A.B. milk.

sour therapeutic milk drunk to 'implant' L. acidophilus in the gut

1. Sterilise milk (pressure cooker or autoclave)115–121 °C
2. Inoculate pure culture and incubate~24–36 h (curriculum text: good coagulation without wheying off after ~36 h)

Safety: Low risk.

• Rettger L. F. & Cheplin H. A. 1920, PNAS (PMC1084701), via search
• Kulp W. L. & Rettger L. F. 1924, J Bacteriol (PMC379059/PMC374181), via search
• Indian CEC food-technology module (36 h at ~37 °C), via search snippet

Also called amabere amaruranu, Kisii fermented milk.

thick soured milk

1. Boil and cool milk, inoculate warm10 min · 50 °C
2. Ferment in gourd or plastic container4 days · 10–32 °C

Safety: Coliforms present, more so in plastic containers.

• Nyambane et al. 2014, LAB and yeasts in amabere amaruranu

Also called amacunda, Rwandan buttermilk, Kivu buttermilk.

sour, yeasty, low-fat buttermilk drink

1. Sour milk into ikivuguto24 h
2. Churn in the igisabo gourduntil butter grains separate (no time given)
3. Drink the buttermilkconsumed immediately (FAO)

Safety: Short-lived; drink at once.

• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, section II "Acidified milks", group 1.2
• The New Times (Rwanda), Nyagatare cooperative keen to keep ghee culture alive

Also called amasi, maas, inkomazi (Swati), mafi (Sotho/Tswana), lacto (Zimbabwe), mukaka wakakora (Shona).

thick, sharp soured milk eaten over pap (maize porridge) from clay pots, or drunk

1. Smoke the calabash or hide sackminutes
2. Fill with raw milk and leave to sour24 h – 5 days · 25 °C

Safety: Raw milk.

• Wikipedia, Amasi
• University of Johannesburg, influence of fermentation temperature and time on amasi
• Systematic review of African traditional fermented milks (73 studies), Frontiers in Food Science and Technology 2026
• Feresu and Muzondo 1990, World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 6, doi:10.1007/BF01200939
• Gadaga et al. 1999, International Journal of Food Microbiology, doi:10.1016/S0168-1605(99)00154-3
• NRC 1992, Applications of Biotechnology to Traditional Fermented Foods, ch. III (seen via a search summary)
• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, section II "Acidified milks"

Also called amateregwa, amateregua, amateregwa.

thick sour buttermilk drink

1. Sour raw milk (urubu)24 h – 3 days
2. Churn and remove butteruntil butter grains stick to a straw in the vent

Safety: Raw milk.

• Aloys & Angeline 2009 (as above), via FermDB row
• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85

Also called мравчено кисело мляко (reported), karıncalı yoğurt (reported), ant-started yogurt.

soft set yoghurt started from ants

1. Warm milk and drop in antsminutes
2. Incubate overnightovernight (reported)

Safety: Wild-insect starter, so variable. Ants may carry parasites (one study cooked or killed them first).

• Wikipedia, Yogurt (ant yogurt section)

Also called айран, airan, Kazakh airan, Kyrgyz airan.

Milk is soured with a little ayran from the last batch into a thick, spoonable sour milk. Thinned with water it becomes shalap, the drink that Caucasian and Turkish cooks call ayran.

1. Sour the milk with old ayran

Safety: No source gives the acidity or keeping time of household ayran.

• Kuerman M., Wang R., Zhou Y. et al. 2023, Metagenomic insights into bacterial communities and functional genes associated with texture characteristics of Kazakh artisanal fermented milk Ayran in Xinjiang, China, Food Research International, doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2022.112414 (abstract)
• Kochetkova T.V., Grabarnik I.P., Klyukina A.A. et al. 2022, Microbial communities of artisanal fermented milk products from Russia, Microorganisms 10(11):2140
• Wikipedia (ru), Кисломолочные продукты (outline only)

Also called im portaigh (Irish, reported), peat-buried butter.

strong, aged butter, used like aged ghee (modern culinary experiments)

Boundary

Mostly preservation with slow enzyme change; microbial fermentation is not clearly shown

1. Pack and bury in peat5–10 °C

Safety: Ancient finds are not food.

• Smyth J. et al. 2019. Compound-specific isotope analysis and radiocarbon dating of Irish bog butters. Scientific Reports.
• Wikipedia, Bog butter.

Also called bongo, beverage bongo, vegetable bongo.

thick sour milk sold as a drink; a sour buttermilk version is cooked into sauces

1. Boil milk (beverage type) or use raw milk (vegetable type)
2. Ferment (backslop or spontaneous)24 h

Safety: 93.3 % of 30 Lyantonde samples had potentially pathogenic microbes; most of 15 processors had poor hygiene. No Ugandan microbiological standard for it.

• Mukisa, Ssendagala & Byakika 2020, Microbiological safety and physicochemical composition of Bongo, Scientific African 10:e00583, (abstract via search)
• Gulaita 2015 MSc thesis, Makerere (Pallisa), (via search)
• Nuwagira 2025 MSc thesis, Makerere (starter cultures BM01, BM55, BM70), via search

Also called বর্ণির ধুছনির দই, ধুছনির দই, দুছনির দই, Dhuchnir doi of Barni, dhuchni doi, dushni doi.

firm buffalo-milk curd sold in its bamboo basket

1. Boil buffalo milk down3–4 h · 100 °C
2. Seal a bamboo-cane basket (dhuchni) with flour pasteminutes
3. Set the curd in the basket

Safety: Long boil; basket and flour seal are not sterile.

• bn.wikipedia, বর্ণির ধুছনির দই ; en.wikipedia, Bornir Dhuchnir Doi
• Akmal Hossain, স্বাদে ভিন্ন মৌলভীবাজারের 'বর্নির ধুছনির দই', Prothom Alo, 5 Nov 2023
• M.A. Hamid, মৌলভীবাজারে মাসে ৫-৬ লাখ টাকার মহিষের দই বিক্রি, Ekhon TV, 4 May 2024

Also called boruga.

sweetened, naturally soured whole-milk curd

1. Ferment raw whole milk naturally24 h
2. Sweeten and packup to 10 days · 4 °C

Safety: Raw, unheated milk.

• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, Latin America table (Boruga, Dominican Rep.

Also called Bulgarian buttermilk, Bulgarian-style buttermilk.

tart thermophilic cultured skim-milk drink

1. Pasteurise and cool
2. Ferment thermophilically, break and cool2.5–3 h (one secondary source); older processes up to overnight

Safety: Low risk.

• Secondary summaries via search (process 42–45 °C, 2.5–3 h, pH 4.0–4.4; US patent 3946657 citing a 1965 process at 46–48 °C)
• Burkey L. A., Bulgarian and acidophilus cultured milks (USDA; title only)

Also called カスピ海ヨーグルト, Kasupikai yōguruto.

mild, ropy room-temperature yoghurt

1. Add a spoon of previous batch to cold milkminutes
2. Ferment at room temperature20–30 °C

Safety: Raw-milk room-temperature backslopping has some risk. Fast acidification protects it.

• Wikipedia (ja), カスピ海ヨーグルト
• Wikipedia, Matzoon

Also called çal, чал, chal, shubat (Kazakh name for the same family).

sour, sparkling, lightly alcoholic camel-milk drink; agaran cream as by-product

1. Sour camel milk with previously soured milk8 h
2. Add fresh milk daily for 3–4 days3–4 days
3. Industrial alternative8 h · 25 °C

Safety: Raw camel milk.

• en.wikipedia, Chal, (citing Yagil 1982 FAO Camels and Camel Milk; Khazanov 1994; Kuliev 1959)
• Soleymanzadeh N. et al. 2016, LAB from chal and antioxidant activity of fermented camel milk, Dairy Sci Technol, (via search)

Also called chambiko, Malawi sour milk.

thick, very sour, partly drained milk

1. Leave raw milk to sour in a covered calabash, gourd or clay pot3–4 days
2. Drain whey daily and top up with fresh milk until fullabout one week in all (FAO group value; Malawi drains daily)

Safety: Raw milk in the traditional form.

• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, section II "Acidified milks", group 1.4
• Schutte L.M. 2013, Isolation and identification of the dominant microorganisms present in Namibian, Mozambican, Ugandan and Malawian traditional fermented milks (MSc, Stellenbosch University; via search summary)
• Market structure and coherence of international cooperation: the case of the dairy sector in Malawi (Agricultural and Food Economics 2016; table listing Dairibord products)

Also called чапамо ловсо (Erzya), шапама лофца (Moksha), chapamo lovco, shapama loftsa, Mordovian sour milk.

thick, cream-coloured sour milk

1. Boil and cool100 °C
2. Add sour cream; leave warm until thickuntil thick (not given)
3. Chill and serve

Safety: Low risk.

• ru.wikipedia, Чапамо ловсо (citing Национальная библиотека Республики Татарстан 'Мордовская кухня' 2018; nazaccent.ru; e-mordovia.ru 2018; Культура питания: энциклопедический справочник, Minsk 1993, p. 186)
• Национальный акцент, Путешествие в мир мордовской кухни, (confirms both names; drunk with pancakes)

Also called ଚିଲିକା ଦହି, Chilika dahi.

thick, sour, slightly salty buffalo curd sold in bamboo baskets; long ambient shelf life

1. Make and season the bamboo bowlseveral cycles
2. Concentrate milk by long boiling100 °C
3. Pour into the bowl, cover with leaves, incubateovernight (typical)

Safety: Antifungal lactobacilli are proposed as one reason for the long shelf life.

• Nanda D. K. et al. 2013, Indian Chilika curd – a potential dairy product for Geographical Indication registration, Indian J Traditional Knowledge 12(4):707–713

Also called bainne clábair, bonnyclabber, clabbered milk, thick milk.

Clabber is raw milk left to sour on its own until it sets into a thick, solid curd. It was eaten with a spoon, beaten with brown sugar, and used as a leavener for batter cakes before baking powder. It needs raw milk, because the souring bacteria come from the milk itself.

1. Leave raw milk to sour24 h – 2 days
2. Eat it, or bake with it

Safety: Clabber depends on raw milk; pasteurised milk left out does not clabber reliably. No source gives a pH, time or temperature for safe making.

• Wikipedia, Clabber (food)
• Foods of England, Clabber or Clauber (quoting the Hull Daily Mail, 15 August 1917, and The Encyclopedia of Practical Cookery, 1891)

Also called coalhada, leite coalhado.

set soured milk dessert; drained versions approach labneh (coalhada seca, Lebanese-Brazilian)

1. Leave milk to curdle in a clay pot or glass24 h

• Wikipedia, List of fermented milk products, Brazil: coalhada

Also called dahee, dahi (Indo-Guyanese), Guyanese curd.

Whole cow milk is brought to the boil for several minutes, cooled, stirred with some dahee from the last batch and left for 5 to 8 hours until it sets. It is the Indian dahi, brought to Guyana by indentured labourers from India.

1. Boil the milk and cool itHeated to the boiling point for several minutes
2. Stir in old dahee and let it set5–8 h
3. Keep it cold2 days

Safety: The milk is boiled before setting and the dahee keeps only about two days in a fridge.

• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, section II "Acidified milks" (Dahee, Guyana; Dahi, India and Myanmar)

Also called ဒိန်ချဉ်, dein gyin, Burmese curd.

milk curd or yogurt

• Wiktionary, ဒိန်ချဉ် ('milk curd, yogurt'); ဒိန်ခဲ = cheese

Also called Dickmilch, Setzmilch, Stockmilch, Sauermilch, Dickete, Satte (the shallow bowl it was set in).

thick soured milk; base for quark and Sauermilchkäse

1. Traditional: leave raw milk to sour in a shallow bowl (Satte)24 h – 2 days
2. Industrial: inoculate pasteurised homogenised milk and set15–20 h · 25–28 °C

Safety: Raw-milk household version has raw-milk risks.

• de.wikipedia, Dickmilch, (citing Pütz & Norten 1998; Österreichisches Lebensmittelbuch Codex B32)

Also called эремсек, эремчек, ирэмсек (Bashkir spellings vary), eremchek, eremsäk, kyzyl eremsek (red form).

Soured or freshly cultured milk with a little ayran, katyk or buttermilk is brought to the boil so that curd separates, and the curd is drained in a canvas bag. For a keeping form the curd is boiled down until all its water is gone, giving a reddish, sweetened dry curd. It is a boundary entry, an acid-and-heat curd made from fermented milk.

Boundary

An acid-heat curd made from fermented milk, on the cheese boundary like irimshik

1. Sour the milk with a starter
2. Bring to the boil
3. Drain the curd
4. Boil the curd dry (dry eremsek)

Safety: Boiling and drying make the dry form keep. No source gives safety data.

• Wikipedia (ru), Эремсек (summarises Migranova E.V., Bashkir Encyclopedia, Ufa)

Also called እርጎ, ititu, irgo, irgo, ititu (Oromo, concentrated).

thick, sour, smoky curd; often eaten with kochkocha (green pepper, onion, salt)

1. Wash and smoke the vesselminutes
2. Ferment raw milk24 h · 25–30 °C

Safety: Risk of E. coli O157:H7, Listeria, Salmonella and S. aureus with poor hygiene.

• Karssa et al. 2024, Insights on the microbiology of Ethiopian fermented milk products
• Systematic review of African traditional fermented milks (73 studies), Frontiers in Food Science and Technology 2026
• Review of Eastern African traditional fermented milks, 2025
• Asrat et al. 2023, traditional milk-vessel smoking in North Shoa, Ethiopia

Also called filmjölk, fil, fil, surmjölk, kulturmelk (Norway).

Filmjölk is Swedish soured milk, made with mesophilic lactic bacteria that work at room temperature. Milk with about 3 % fat is soured for about a day at 20–25 °C until it thickens to a mild, slightly buttery, drinkable curd near pH 4.5. It is eaten with a spoon, often with cereal.

1. Heat-treat and cool the milk
2. Add the culture
3. Sour at room temperature12–36 h · 20–25 °C
4. Chill4 °C

Safety: Made from pasteurised milk and kept cold. No safety study was found for filmjölk itself.

• Mechanistic insights into probiotic properties of lactic acid bacteria associated with ethnic fermented dairy products, Frontiers in Microbiology 2019, 10:502, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.00502 (filmjölk and långfil dominated by mesophilic lactococci)
• Arla Foods Sweden 2023, Arla Pro snabbguide till våra syrade mejeriprodukter (quick guide to fermented dairy products)
• Discover Real Food in Texas, How to ferment filmjölk (home guide; 20–25 °C, 12–36 h)
• Wikipedia, Filmjölk (cultures, fat levels and dates, citing Arla and other Swedish dairies)

Also called Fiurit.

The 'flower' of the ricotta: the first creamy curds skimmed from heated whey, sold as a semi-liquid cream; kin to Friulian flors and Poschiavo flurit.

Rind

None; semi-liquid dense cream

1. Prepare the milk
2. Set the curd85–90 °C
3. Cut and drain the curd
4. Mould and salt

• ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Fiurì o Fiurit' (id 986)
• ONAF technical sheet PDF
• Regione Lombardia PAT sheet

Also called Furmagg de la ségia, Bicc, Cacc.

Re-fermented peppered cheese pack in a staved tub, a winter protein store from cheeses too hard or too runny; sharp, piquant, lightly blued. Moisture 41%, fat on dry matter 52%, protein 23%, pH 5.2.

Rind

None

Size

Variable; spreadable mass or roughly cylindrical block cut in slices

1. Prepare the milk
2. Mould and salt
3. Ripenat least 40 days · 10–14 °C

• ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Furmagg de ségia (Furmagg de la ségia)' (id 1006)
• ONAF technical sheet PDF
• Regione Lombardia PAT sheet

Also called قارص, gariss, garris, garris, gariss, el gariss.

sour, mildly alcoholic camel-milk drink, produced continuously for months

1. Start a new siinfirst batch
2. Semi-continuous fermentation on the moving camel18 h

Safety: S. infantarius subsp. infantarius dominance is a safety concern. Composition varies with container (siin best) and the camels' watering frequency.

• LRRD 21(2) 2009
• Journal of Ethnic Foods 2023, s42779-023-00217-z (figure captions via search)
• Systematic review of African traditional fermented milks (73 studies), Frontiers in Food Science and Technology 2026, backslopping 18 h, microbes
• Turkish J Agric Food Sci Tech, Gariss mineral content