Fermented milk

Also called garoor.

short-fermented smoky buttermilk drink

1. Churn raw milk; pour buttermilk into a smoked containerchurning time not given
2. Acidify naturally3 h

Safety: Raw milk, very short acidification.

• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, Section II 1.3 'Buttermilks from churned raw milk'

Also called gwell, gros lait, laezh tev, gros-lait, Breton thick milk.

dense, smooth, tangy mesophilic fermented milk

1. Pasteurise85 °C
2. Cool and add cold Gwell, homogenise the mix35 °C
3. Incubate3.5–6 h · 30 °C
4. Chill4 °C

Safety: Producers sometimes lose their ferment and obtain new starter from other producers; atypical batches taste "yogurt-like" or too acidic.

• von Gastrow L. et al. 2020, Microbial diversity associated with Gwell, a traditional French mesophilic fermented milk inoculated with a natural starter, Microorganisms 8(7):982, PMC7409170

Also called гуслянка, гуслінка, густянка, guslyanka, huslianka, zymnie moloko (winter milk).

thick, mildly fizzy sour milk, stored for winter

1. Boil and cool100 °C
2. Pour into a sour-cream-smeared vessel; wrap and set12 h
3. Cold storage (winter milk)months (uk.wikipedia)

Safety: Low risk after boiling.

• uk.wikipedia, Гуслянка
• ru.wikipedia, Гуслянка (disambiguation: 'простокваша из парного молока')
• Dzerkalo Tyzhnia (zn.ua), Смачна Гуцульщина

Also called ikivuguto, kivuguto, ikuvugoto (DRC, FAO spelling).

thick soured milk, now also sold industrially

1. Ferment milk in a wooden or clay pot (inkongoro)24 h – 2 days · 18–25 °C

• Systematic review of African traditional fermented milks (73 studies), Frontiers in Food Science and Technology 2026
• Wikipedia, List of fermented milk products
• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, section II "Acidified milks"

Also called iria ri matii, iria imata (FAO 1990 spelling, identification inferred), iria imata, Meru fermented milk.

smoky, sour, charcoal-tinted fermented milk

1. Coat gourd interior with Olea charcoalminutes
2. Boil and cool milk, fill the gourd, leave covered24 h – 2 days · 22 °C

Safety: Same hygiene caveats as other gourd milks. Charcoal and smoke reduce moulds but do not replace boiling.

• Mureithi W. et al. 2000, Management of trees used in mursik (fermented milk) production in Trans-Nzoia District, Kenya, J. Ethnobiology 20(1):75–91
• Kimonye J.M., Robinson R.K. 1991 (Meru iria ri matii; cited via Mureithi et al. 2000; original not seen)
• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, section II "Acidified milks", group 1.1
• People Daily, Using traditional milk technology to boost health and make money

Also called जुजु धौ, king curd, Bhaktapur curd, Juju dhau (king curd).

sweet, custard-like buffalo-milk curd set in clay pots; festival and ritual food

1. Boil and reduce sweetened buffalo milk100 °C
2. Backslop and set in clay kataaro pots, wrapped in rice husk in an unventilated room30 °C

Safety: Low risk.

• Shilpakar D., Khanal P. & Kusma R. 2022, Isolation, identification and characterization of LAB found in 'Juju Dhau' from Bhaktapur, Nepal, Curr Trends Biomed Eng Biosci 20(4):556044

skimmed cream layers salted in wooden vessels; aged kajmak ferments

1. Prepare the milk
2. Ripen

Also called كامخ رجل, countertop cheese, kamakh.

salty, tangy, cheese-like spread, served with herbs

1. Startbegins in June
2. Daily fresh-milk additionsJune to early August
3. Covered sun ripeningearly August to early October

Safety: Long warm ripening; salt and acid are the only hurdles.

• Pass the Flamingo blog, Kamakh rijal recipe (quotes Kitab al-Tabikh).
• Perry C., 'More Rotted Barley', PPC.

Also called کشک, қурт, qurut, kurut, ааруул, جميد.

shelf-stable dried sour dairy

Boundary

Some classifications count dried acid curd as cheese; cereal-and-milk kishk and tarhana are cereal ferments

1. Churn diluted yoghurt in goatskin for butter1 h
2. Boil buttermilk and drain curd100 °C
3. Shape and sun-dryweeks

Safety: Very low water activity.

• Wikipedia, Kashk

Also called хоормог, hoormog, Mongolian camel airag, fermented camel milk of Xilin Gol, Khoormog.

sour, lightly alcoholic camel-milk drink

1. Cool and filter raw camel milkminutes
2. Backslop and ferment with up-and-down stirring24 h – 2 days · 20–25 °C

Safety: Raw milk.

• Guo L. et al. 2021, Comparative study of physicochemical composition and microbial community of Khoormog, Chigee and Airag from Xilin Gol, Food Sci Nutr 9(3):1564–1573
• Pyrosequencing of Mongolian fermented dairy (5 khoormog samples, L. helveticus predominant), Biosci Microbiota Food Health 33(2), 2014, (via search)
• Mongolian Journal of Chemistry 2022 (230 Lactobacillus isolates from khoormog; top strains L. plantarum), (via search)

Also called ቅቤ (kibe, qibe), dhadhaa (Afaan Oromo, general knowledge; not sourced), qibe, Ethiopian traditional butter.

cultured butter; often spiced and melted into niter kibe (ghee)

1. Smoke the vessels with Olea africanaminutes
2. Accumulate and ferment milk into ergo2–5 days
3. Churn in a clay pot sealed with enset
4. Knead and wash in cold water

Safety: Traditional butter samples carry coliforms, S. aureus and high yeast and mould counts (Asrat et al. 2023).

• Asrat D., Mitiku E., Yonas H. 2023, Production practice, microbial quality and consumer acceptability test of traditionally produced butter in North Shoa Zone, Oromia, Heliyon 9:e17510
• Karssa et al. 2024, Insights on the microbiology of Ethiopian fermented milk products: a review, Food Sci Nutr
• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, section III "Butter and milk-fat products", butter and clarified butter

Also called кисело мляко, Bulgarian yogurt, Bulgarian sour milk.

tart, firm set yoghurt; the origin of the name L. bulgaricus

1. Boil and cool milk100 °C
2. Backslop and set in clay or glass pots, wrapped warm4–12 h · 30–45 °C
3. Chillhours

Safety: Low risk once acid.

• Wikipedia, Yogurt / Bulgarian yogurt
• Wikipedia, Strained yogurt

Also called kokkelipiimä, kokkeli, Eastern Finnish lumpy soured milk.

soured-milk drink with soft curd lumps, traditionally drunk with kalakukko on Saturday evenings

1. Stand skimmed milk warm until it sets (kokkeli)2 days
2. Lift curd into water; keep coolstorage (not given); water changed as more whey seeps out
3. Mix kokkeli into piimä (or milk, kirnupiimä, water)at serving

Safety: Raw-milk spontaneous set.

• fi.wikipedia, Kokkelipiimä (citing Sadeniemi M. (ed.), Nykysuomen sanakirja 2, WSOY 1996, p. 445)
• fi.wikipedia, Piimä
• Elävä perintö wiki, Kalakukko tradition

Also called kule naoto, Maasai fermented milk.

thick, smoky, charcoal-flecked soured milk

1. Treat gourd with burning stick (Olea africana)minutes
2. Fill with milk (sometimes blood) and fermentat least 5 days

Safety: Olea africana harvest pressure is a conservation concern. Alternative trees include Rhus natalensis, Olea capensis and Prunus africana.

• Systematic review of African traditional fermented milks (73 studies), Frontiers in Food Science and Technology 2026
• Kimetu et al. 2026, AJFAND 26(1), Olea africana ash in gourd and PET
• Mureithi, Journal of Ethnobiology 20(1)
• People Daily, Using traditional milk technology

Also called kumis, kumis casero, kumis artesanal, Kumis (Colombian and Ecuadorian).

sweet-sour creamy drinking fermented milk eaten with pandebono, almojábana or mantecada

1. Leave milk covered at room temperature to sour24 h – 3 days
2. Break curd, sweeten, blend and chillminutes

Safety: Named after koumiss but made from cow milk; ethanol is low (produced by the yeast but not quantified here).

• Chaves-López C. et al. 2017, Fermentation 3(4):52 (role of Galactomyces geotrichum with L. plantarum and E. faecalis in kumis; abstract via search; MDPI page 403)
• Chaves-López C. et al. 2012, Yeasts from Colombian kumis as source of peptides with ACE-inhibitory activity in milk, Int J Food Microbiol (title via search)
• Vitae (Universidad de Antioquia), CLA and rheology of commercial and artisanal kumis: pH 3.84–4.28, acidity 0.69–0.94 % (via search snippet)

Also called күөрчэх, кёрчех, Yakut whipped cream.

whipped (sour) cream with berries

Boundary

Mostly a whipped dessert; only the sour cream in it is fermented

1. Whip cream or sour cream with a wooden whisk until thickminutes

Safety: Low risk.

• ru.wikipedia, Якутская кухня (kuerchekh = whipped cream from sour cream or cream with berries and sugar)
• Danilov 2019 (күөрчэх 'whipped cream')

Also called курунга, хурэнгэ, khurunga.

kefir-like Buryat drink

1. Ferment milk with kurunga starter24 h

• Stoyanova et al. 2014, Central Asian Journal of Global Health 3 suppl., doi:10.5195/cajgh.2014.176
• Zandanova, Ivanova and Myryanova 2021, Vestnik VSUET 83(1):258–262, doi:10.20914/2310-1202-2021-1-258-262

Also called kwerionik.

thick, sour, gourd-fermented milk of the Sabiny

1. Fill gourd with raw milk; ferment24 h
2. Periodically drain whey and add fresh milk; keep fermenting11 days

Safety: Coliforms high early; not detected after 11 days as acidity builds.

• Nakavuma, Møller, Jakobsen, Salimo & Nasinyama 2012, Processing steps and lactic acid bacteria involved in traditional cultured milk (Kwerionik) production in Uganda, Afr J Anim Biomed Sci 7(2):82–93

Also called кымыс, көөнньүү кымыс, көйүүргэн, Yakut kumys, kenyu kumys (strong), koiyurgen.

koumiss drunk ritually from choron cups at Ysyakh

1. Add fresh mare milk to leftover kymys; churn repeatedly24 h – 2 days · 26–28 °C

• ru.wikipedia, Якутская кухня
• Great Russian Encyclopedia, Кумыс, (fermentation ~26–28 °C; via search)
• Danilov I. A. 2019, Номинации молочных продуктов (Yakut dairy names), Lomonosov-2019

Also called långfil, tettemelk, tjukkmjølk, long milk, ropy milk, tettemelk (Norway).

ropy, elastic soured milk

1. Inoculate milk with a spoon of långfilminutes
2. Ferment cool24 h – 2 days · 18–22 °C

Safety: Low risk.

• Rampanti et al. 2024, Technological and enzymatic characterization of autochthonous LAB isolated from viili natural starters, Foods 13:1115
• Wikipedia, Filmjölk
• Yogurt at Home blog, Långfil

Also called 酪, 甜酪, 酸酪, lao, raku (Japanese reading), sweet lao.

set sour milk; base for lu-lao (dried curd balls) and su (butter / butter oil)

1. Milk only in the grass seasonlate 3rd to early 4th lunar month until end of 8th month; small amounts only from the 9th
2. Heat slowly in an iron pot over dry-dung fire100 °C
3. Cool slightly, skim skin for butter (su 酥), strain through silkminutes
4. Inoculate in pottery jar, wrap, leave overnightovernight; ready by morning

• Qimin Yaoshu 齊民要術, 卷第六, Wikisource (public domain)
• Hirata M. 2023, 蘇―仏教と乳製品―, Chisei 151:46–51 (Obihiro Univ. repository)

Also called 酪, 甜酪, 酢酪, lao, Chinese yogurt.

set soured milk

1. Boil milk slowly over a dried-dung fire100 °C
2. Strain through raw silk into a fired clay jar
3. Inoculate and incubateovernight; lao set by next morning

Safety: The text attributes failures to snakes or toads in the dairy and fumigates with burnt hair and horn.

• QMYS vol 6 ch. 57 養羊 (作酪法)

Also called 老北京酸奶, 酸奶, Beijing ceramic-jar yogurt.

sweet set yoghurt sold in returnable ceramic jars

1. Sweeten, heat, inoculate, fill into ceramic jars sealed with paper and band42 °C

Safety: Low risk.

Also called leche agria, Nicaraguan soured milk.

mesophilic soured milk, originally made as a medicine

1. Heat (low pasteurisation)30 min · 65 °C
2. Cool, inoculate, ferment16–20 h · 28 °C

Safety: Low risk (pasteurised).

• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, Latin America table (Sour milk, Nicaragua

Also called mabisi, amabisi.

thick sour milk

1. Ferment with backslop2 days

Safety: Low pH.

• Systematic review of African traditional fermented milks (73 studies), Frontiers in Food Science and Technology 2026

Also called madila, Botswana sour milk, mafi (Lesotho, related).

thick, very sour, partly drained fermented milk eaten with maize porridge (bogobe)

1. Pour raw milk into calabash, gourd or clay pot (or skin bag); cover against dust3–4 days
2. Drain whey, top up with fresh milk, repeatabout one week in all

Safety: Pathogens detected in raw-milk madila; acidity reduces but does not eliminate E. coli O157:H7 in five days.

• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, section 1.4 'Concentrated (partly drained) fermented milks'
• Ohenhen, Imarenezor & Kihuha 2013, Microbiome of madila, Int J Basic Appl Sci 2(2)
• pH and acidity 30 °C challenge data: as reported by search summary of a UP/UFS study (repository.up.ac.za); not opened in full — treat as indicative

Also called mashita.

fermented butter-like product, also used to make ghee and as body/hair cream

Boundary

A fermented butter rather than a fermented milk

1. Accumulate and ferment cream/butter-rich milk
2. Optional: heat to ghee

• Ongol & Asano 2009, Main microorganisms involved in the fermentation of Ugandan ghee, Int J Food Microbiol 133:286–291 (abstract via search; Hokkaido repository )

Also called masse.

concentrated, partly drained sour milk

1. Coagulate raw milk with a plant enzyme in a calabash or clay pot3–4 days
2. Drain some whey, top up with fresh milk, repeatabout one week (FAO group value)

Safety: Raw milk.

• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, section II "Acidified milks", group 1.4 remarks

Also called ماست, maast.

yoghurt eaten plain, as mast-o-khiar, and churned into doogh, butter and kashk

1. Boil, cool, backslop, incubate40–45 °C

Safety: Low risk.

• Wikipedia, Strained yogurt
• Wikipedia, List of fermented milk products

Also called მაწონი, մածուն, matsun, madzoon, matsoon, matzoon.

viscous Caucasian yoghurt

1. Heat milk90–100 °C
2. Backslop and set in open or covered vessel0 °C
3. Optional churn and salt for keepingkept a month or more if salted (historic)

Safety: Low risk.

• Wikipedia, Matzoon

Also called maziwa mgando, maziwa ya mtindi, maziwa mtindi.

thick, partly drained sour milk

1. Pour raw milk into calabash, gourd or clay pot; leave covered3–4 days
2. Drain whey, top up with fresh milk until fullabout one week in all

Safety: Plain naturally soured milk keeps only about 72 h at room temperature; smoking the vessel with chosen woods extends this to 20 days–3 months (Ryoba and Kurwijila).

• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, Section II 1.4 'Concentrated (partly drained) fermented milks' (Maziwa mgando, Tanzania
• Ryoba R. and Kurwijila R.L., Milk processing requirements for satisfying the demand for various dairy products in Tanzania, Sokoine University of Agriculture (FAO-hosted paper)
• Mlimbila 2016, PhD thesis, University of Dar es Salaam (seen via a search summary)

Also called мечниковская простокваша, Mechnikov milk, Bulgarian-bacillus prostokvasha.

thermophilic set sour milk, a yoghurt-equivalent within the prostokvasha family

1. Pasteurise, homogenise, cool to setting temperature85–95 °C
2. Set in pack (thermostat method)4–6 h · 40–45 °C

Safety: Low risk.

• ru.wikipedia, Простокваша

Also called මී කිරි, meekiri, mee kiri, buffalo curd, kiri peni curd, deekiri (cow-milk counterpart).

firm, sour buffalo-milk curd in clay pots served with kithul treacle

1. Heat buffalo milk10–15 min · 90–92 °C
2. Cool, backslop, pour into clay pots, set overnight42 °C

Safety: Low risk if milk is properly heated; stored unrefrigerated.

• Adikari A.M.M.U. et al. 2021, Isolation, identification and characterization of Lactobacillus species diversity from Meekiri, Heliyon 7(10):e08136, PMC8503854 (read via Europe PMC full text)
• Hallqvist J. 2019, SLU student thesis comparing meekiri and deekiri

Also called mutandabota, baobab milk.

tart, thick baobab-milk porridge or drink

1. Mix milk with baobab pulp and sugar, ferment24 h – 2 days

Safety: The low pH from baobab protects it.

• Systematic review of African traditional fermented milks (73 studies), Frontiers in Food Science and Technology 2026

Also called নবদ্বীপের লাল দই, ক্ষীর দই, চাক্কু দই, Nabadwip-er lal doi, kheer doi, chakku doi.

Milk is simmered on a low wood fire for six to seven hours until it thickens to about a third and turns red, with no colour added. It is poured into clay pots set around the dying stove, wrapped in jute sacking and left overnight, and by morning it has set so firm that a pot can be turned upside down. A knife (chakku) is needed to cut it.

1. Simmer the milk until it turns red6–7 h
2. Set overnight in clay pots around the dying stoveOvernight; set firm by morning
3. Keep until eatenup to 10 days

Safety: The long boil kills the bacteria in the milk before it sets. No safety study of lal doi was found; like other doi it is a perishable dairy food.

• Bandyopadhyay D. 2017, কেউ লাল কেউ দুধ-সাদা, দই দিয়ে যায় চেনা, The Daily Anandabazar, 18 November 2017 (web archive)
• Wikipedia, Nabadwip-er lal doi (citing Anandabazar 2012–2017, The Telegraph 2017, Ruj 2019)
• bn.wikipedia, নবদ্বীপের লাল দই

Also called Նարինե, наринэ, Narine acidophilus milk.

acidophilus fermented milk marketed as probiotic

1. Boil milk and cool100 °C
2. Inoculate with Narine and incubate10–16 h · 37–40 °C

Safety: Low risk. Health claims rest mainly on family tradition and popular books (ru.wikipedia).

• ru.wikipedia, Наринэ

Also called natilla, crema, crema ácida, natilla doble, Costa Rican natilla, crema salvadoreña.

soured cream eaten with gallo pinto, tortillas, plantains and beans

1. Separate and standardise cream
2. Ferment cream12–18 h · 20–30 °C

Safety: Artisanal raw-cream versions carry raw-milk risks; little published safety data for producers (Cámara Nacional de Productores de Leche, CR).

• RTCA 67.04.71:14, Productos lácteos. Cremas (natas) y cremas (natas) preparadas. Especificaciones (Central American Technical Regulation)

Also called простокваша, zsiadłe mleko, aludttej, Dickmilch, Sauermilch, tykmælk.

Raw milk is left covered at room temperature, often with a little of the last batch stirred in, until its own lactic bacteria sour it into a soft gel. Industrial prostokvasha is made the same way from heat-treated milk with lactococci or thermophilic streptococci.

1. Leave the milk covered to sour
2. Chill and keep cold2–6 °C

Safety: Household prostokvasha uses raw milk. The industrial product must be made from heat-treated milk (no phosphatase or peroxidase may remain), reach 85–130 °T and be kept at 4 ± 2 °C.

• 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
• GOST 31456-2013, Interstate standard, Prostokvasha (sour clotted milk), Specifications, Standartinform, Moscow (in force from 2014)
• Wikipedia (ru), Простокваша (outline only)

Also called non maí, yami.

sour buttermilk drink

1. Churn raw milk, pour buttermilk into a clean calabash, add sour milk24 h

Safety: Raw milk.

• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, Section II 1.3

Also called nunu, nono, kossam, lait caillé, fènè, kindirmo.

sour fermented milk, often eaten with fura millet balls (fura da nono)

1. Ferment milk in calabash24 h · 22–35 °C
2. Churn or skim off butter (nunu)30 min – 1 h

Safety: Spontaneous raw-milk product. Enterococci are common.

• Systematic review of African traditional fermented milks (73 studies), Frontiers in Food Science and Technology 2026
• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, section II "Acidified milks"

Also called omashikwa, omaere (Herero), Namibian fermented buttermilk.

sour, viscous buttermilk with a root aroma, sold in plastic bottles

1. Add root pieces and backslop to milk in a gourd2–3 days · 27–36 °C
2. Remove roots and churn in calabash2–3 h

Safety: Quality is inconsistent (rancid notes, low pH, filth) according to a University of Pretoria PhD.

• Bille et al. 2014, AJFAND 14(2)
• Univ. Pretoria thesis, Science and technological development of omashikwa
• The Namibian, Fermented milk
• Bille 2013, AJFAND 13(4) (seen via a search summary)

Also called pendidam, pindidam, pindidaam, kindirmou, kindirmo, pindidam.

sour curdled milks sold in markets; also used as the starter for fermenting whole milk before churning lebol (dehydrated milk fat)

1. Skim (pendidam only) or keep whole (kindirmou)
2. Curdle at ambient temperature24 h – 2 days · 22–35 °C

Safety: Jiwoua & Millière (1990) found heavy raw-milk contamination and poor hygiene.

• Jiwoua & Millière 1990, Le Lait 70(5–6), 'pindidam' (abstract via search; full text 403)
• Nodem Sohanang et al. 2024, Isolation and probiotic characterization of LAB from Kindirmou and Pendidam, Advances in Biochemistry 12(2):35–48
• Lebol paper 2025, Walsh Medical Media (pendidam = acidic skimmed curdled milk; kindirmou = whole curdled milk), via search
• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, Pindidaam, Cameroon

Also called piimä, kirnupiimä, Finnish buttermilk, surmjölk (Finland Swedish).

thin soured-milk drink

1. Ferment milk or buttermilk16–24 h · 20–25 °C

Safety: Low risk.

• Wikipedia, Filmjölk (piimä is the thinner Finnish product)
• Wikipedia (fi), Piimä

Also called mala ya kienyeji (Swahili), kamabele / kamabou (Pokot), kamabele kambou, yaourt aux cendres, ash yoghurt.

smooth, thick, pale-grey sour milk with an aromatic note

1. Prepare the gourddays (not given)
2. Milk into the gourd and fermentat least 3 days · 4 °C
3. Drain whey, shake, add kromwo ashminutes

Safety: Raw milk. Slow Food reports ash added after fermentation; B4FN says ash goes in with the milk. The order is a source conflict.

• Slow Food Foundation, Pokot Ash Yogurt Presidium
• B4FN (Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition), Ash yoghurt case study
• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, section II 1.1 (lists 'kamabele/kamabou' among Kenyan sour milks; Kenyan milk is usually boiled before natural fermentation; coagulation 24–48 h at ~22 °C in Kenya

Also called қатық, qatiq, катык, qatıq, katyk, gatyk.

thick yoghurt base for chalop soup, ayran, suzma and qurut

1. Boil milk (long boil in Tatar katyk)100 °C
2. Backslop and keep warm6–10 h

Safety: Low risk.

• Wikipedia, Qatiq

Also called 酪, 蘇, 酥, 醍醐, raku, so.

the Buddhist "five flavours" series milk → raku (sour milk) → raw su (butter) → ripe su (butter oil) → daigo (most refined butter oil)

Boundary

Only raku is a fermented milk; so is a concentrated milk and daigo is butter oil

1. Raku (酪) — sour milkovernight (Chinese method)
2. So (蘇) per the Engishiki (927) — boil milk down to one tenth2 h · 100 °C
3. Daigo (醍醐) — liquid fraction sweating out of butter oil22–25 °C

• Hirata M. 2023, 蘇―仏教と乳製品―, Chisei 151:46–51, (summarising Hirata et al. 2010, 2013 reconstructions)

Generic Lombard mountain whey ricotta; texture varies with the source whey.

Rind

None

Size

Variable by container; often truncated cone ~20 cm

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

• ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Ricotta artigianale' (id 1045)
• ONAF technical sheet PDF
• Regione Lombardia PAT sheet

Also called روب, roub, rob.

sour buttermilk

1. Ferment overnight with backslop24 h
2. Churn for butter1 h

• Systematic review of African traditional fermented milks (73 studies), Frontiers in Food Science and Technology 2026
• Wikipedia, List of fermented milk products, Sudan: rob
• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, section II "Acidified milks"

Also called ряжанка, ряженка, fermented baked milk.

creamy, beige, caramel-flavoured fermented baked milk

1. Bake milk in a clay pot in the stoveat least 8 h · 85–95 °C
2. Cool and add smetana or culture40 °C
3. Ferment warm3–6 h · at least 40 °C

Safety: Low risk.

• Wikipedia, Ryazhenka
• Wikipedia (ru), Простокваша

Also called salcë shakulli, salcë në shakull, salce shakulli, hide-sack sauce, yogurt cream in a sack.

thick, salty, tangy concentrated yogurt cream, eaten as meze

1. Make the shakull (hide sack)6 months
2. Fill with drained yogurt and salt; rest5–6 days
3. Top up with salted milk; salt the outside daily5 days
4. Final milk addition, seal, mature2–2.5 months

Safety: Salt and acidity are the only hurdles; Albania's EU-aligned hygiene rules keep it off the market (Dosti et al. 2021).

• Slow Food Foundation, Ark of Taste: Salcë shakulli (yogurt cream in a sack)
• Dosti D., Sinani O., Tila I., Food, nutrition and health in Albania, in Nutritional and Health Aspects of Food in the Balkans, Elsevier 2021, p. 38, doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-820782-6.00006-2
• Wikipedia, Salcë shakulli
• AgroWeb, Salcë në shakull nga stanet e Trebeshinës
• Regjistri i Trashëgimisë Kulturore Jomateriale, Kaçupi's brine

Also called samli (Swahili), samuli, East African ghee.

clarified butter fat (98.5–99 % fat, FAO)

Boundary

A butterfat made from fermented milk

1. Sour milk in a gourd or clay potaccumulated over several days (RYOBA); overnight in FAO's general method
2. Churn by swinging the vesselup to 16 °C
3. Clarify by slow heating110–120 °C

Safety: Burnt flavour if overheated; shelf life depends on residual moisture.

• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, section III 2 'Clarified butter' (name list and technology
• Ryoba R. and Kurwijila R.L., Milk processing requirements for satisfying the demand for various dairy products in Tanzania, Sokoine University of Agriculture (FAO-hosted paper), sections 'Fermented milk', 'Butter', 'Ghee'

Also called ཞོ, shyow, sho, shoyow, zho, Tibetan yogurt.

thick yak or cow yoghurt, celebrated at Lhasa's Shoton (Sho Dun, "yoghurt festival")

1. Boil milkup to 100 °C
2. Backslop and keep warm near the hearth6.8–12.6 °C

Safety: Low risk.

• Mechanistic insights into probiotic properties of lactic acid bacteria associated with ethnic fermented dairy products, Frontiers in Microbiology 2019
• Wu, Luo, Yu, Ren, Han and Nout 2009, Tibetan fermented yak milk (shyow), Dairy Science and Technology 89:201–209

Also called снежок, snezhok.

sweet, thick drinking yoghurt with sour-cream-like body

1. Pasteurise, add sugar85–95 °C
2. Ferment in tank, stir, add syrup, bottle4–8 h · 37–42 °C

Safety: Low risk.

• ru.wikipedia, Снежок (напиток)
• GOST 34048-2017 (title only, via search; parameters not obtained)

Also called छुर्पी, ཕྱུར་བ, chhurpi, somar, chhu / sheden, durkha (hard).

soft, tangy acid-heat curd; hard chhurpi is a chewing cheese

Boundary

Soft chhurpi, chhu and hard chhurpi are cheese-like; somar (a pungent paste of fermented buttermilk or chhurpi) and philu (cream) are related dairy products of the same area

1. Boil buttermilk (mohi)15 min · 100 °C
2. Drain in cloth and lightly ferment24 h – 2 days

• Wikipedia, Chhurpi
• Mechanistic insights into probiotic properties of lactic acid bacteria associated with ethnic fermented dairy products, Frontiers in Microbiology 2019

Tamang-documented

1. Prepare the milk
2. Ripen14 days

Historical Chinese milk products lao (酪), su (酥) and tihu (醍醐), described in the Qimin Yaoshu (6th century).

Also called 酥, 抨酥.

cultured butter rendered to ghee-like su; the buttermilk is used with rice

1. Sun-warm lao in a jar, then churn with a perforated elm-bowl paddlefrom early morning until mid-afternoon in the sun; churn about one meal's time
2. Add hot water equal to half the lao, churn; then cold water, churn hard
3. Collect butter by hand in cold water; knead into balls
4. Render over a slow dung fireuntil the 'rain-on-water' sound stops

• QMYS vol 6 ch. 57

Also called sữa chua, da ua, Vietnamese yoghurt, yaourt.

very sweet, smooth set yoghurt eaten as an afternoon snack or dessert, often over ice

1. Dilute condensed milk; heat80 °C
2. Cool, whisk in yoghurt, pour into small jars, hold in warm water5–8 h · 45–50 °C

Safety: Low risk.

• LocalVietnam, Vietnamese yoghurt (sua chua)
• Andrea Nguyen, Viet World Kitchen (da ua from yaourt; fresh vs condensed milk methods), via search
• FPT Shop home guide (heat to ~80 °C; warm water 45–50 °C), (via search)

Also called суорат, suorat, Yakut thick yoghurt, sorat.

Skimmed cow's milk is boiled, cooled to blood warmth and whipped with sour cream into a thick foam, then covered, wrapped in a blanket and left for a few hours to sour. The result is a thick, airy, buttermilk-tasting yoghurt, the commonest summer dish in Yakutia, once kept in birch-bark vats and frozen into slabs for winter.

1. Boil the skimmed milk
2. Cool and whip in sour cream35–36 °C
3. Cover, wrap in a blanket and sour5–6 h
4. Move to a cool place and stir before serving

Safety: The milk is boiled before the starter goes in. No safety study of suorat was found.

• ru.wikipedia, Суорат (citing make-eat.ru and yakutskhistory.net)
• Danilov I.A. 2019, Yakut dairy lexicon (Lomonosov-2019 conference abstract, Moscow State University)

Also called súrmjólk, Icelandic sour milk.

thick pourable Icelandic sour milk, eaten for breakfast with cereal

1. Pasteurise and standardise fat
2. Sour with LAB16–20 h · 20–25 °C

Safety: Low risk.

• is.wikipedia, Súrmjólk, (citing MS product pages)

Also called suusac, susa, suusa.

sour, smoky camel-milk drink

1. Collect raw milk into smoked containersminutes
2. Ferment at ambient temperature24 h – 3 days

Safety: Market samples in Nairobi (2021) had E. coli in all 28 samples and Shigella in 88 %. Raw milk and no heat step, so safety depends on handling.

• Tropentag 2010, Jans et al., S. infantarius in suusac
• Camels, camel milk and products in Kenya, PMC8923781
• LRRD 19(6) 2007

Also called сузьма, suzma, chakka, چکه, suzme, chaka.

thick strained yoghurt eaten with bread, in soups, or dried to qurut

1. Make qatiq or mast6–10 h · 40 °C
2. Strain through a canvas baghours to days (typical)
3. Optional further drying to qurutdays in sun

Safety: Low risk.

• Wikipedia, Strained yogurt
• Wikipedia, Qatiq

Also called sýra, blaand, mysa (fresh whey), blaand (Shetland).

soured whey drink and preserving acid

1. Store whey in casks to sourweeks to months (typical)

Safety: The very low pH preserves food: Icelanders pickled meat in sýra (súrmatur).

• Wikipedia, List of fermented milk products, Scotland: blaand; Iceland: súrmjólk

Also called sýra, sýrublanda, blanda, blaand (Shetland), soured whey, fermented whey.

Sýra is the whey left from making skyr, kept in casks until it has soured for a long time. Diluted with water it becomes blanda, the everyday farm drink, and undiluted it was the acid in which Icelanders kept meat and offal (súrmatur) when salt was scarce.

1. Collect the whey from skyr making
2. Sour the whey in casksat least 12 months
3. Dilute with water into blanda

Safety: Long souring makes sýra very acidic, which is why it could preserve meat. No measured pH or safety study of sýra was found in this round.

• Von Troil U., Letters on Iceland, in Pinkerton J. (ed.), A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels, vol. 1, p. 656 (Project Runeberg scan)
• Wikipedia, Blaand (outline)
• Wikipedia, Skyr (outline)
• Wikipedia, Þorramatur (súrmatur; outline)

Also called тараг, ᠲᠠᠷᠠᠭ, taraq, Mongolian yogurt.

soft sour yoghurt, eaten and distilled

1. Boil and cool milk100 °C
2. Backslop and set wrapped in feltovernight (typical)

Safety: Low risk.

• Wikipedia, List of fermented milk products
• Wikipedia, Yogurt (Qimin Yaoshu method)

Also called tätmjölk, tettemelk, tätte, tette, butterwort milk, ystegras milk (Norway).

ropy soured milk started from a carnivorous plant

1. Rub vessel with fresh butterwort leaves (or lay leaves on the bottom)minutes
2. Pour in lukewarm milk and leave24 h – 2 days
3. Backslop subsequent batchesongoing

Safety: Historic practice, no longer used. Folk use, not a validated starter.

• Rampanti et al. 2024, Technological and enzymatic characterization of autochthonous LAB isolated from viili natural starters, Foods 13:1115, folklore and Porcellato et al. on Pinguicula microbiome
• Darwin Correspondence Project, DCP-LETT-9515
• Wikipedia, Filmjölk (tätmjölk)

Also called karnemelk, laezh-ribod / lait ribot, kärnmjölk, kjernemelk, kærnemælk, bláthach.

thin, sour, low-fat drink (under 0.5 % fat)

1. Let cream or milk ripen24 h – 2 days
2. Churn30 min – 1 h · 12–16 °C

Safety: Low risk.

• Wikipedia, Buttermilk
• Wikipedia, Strained yogurt (hangop)

Also called турах, tărăkh, turakh, Chuvash katyk.

thick, sour, baked-milk ferment; national Chuvash product

1. Heat milk until it browns (Russian stove at home)3–4 h · 95–98 °C
2. Cool, inoculate 5 %, ferment12–14 h · 27–30 °C

Safety: Low risk.

• ru.wikipedia, Турах, (process numbers flagged 'source not given' on the page)

Also called akile nukadwarak (FAO 1990), nalapan (fresh milk, reported), akidetet (butterfat, reported), ngakibok (buttermilk, reported), akile nukadwarak.

sour gourd milk; butterfat and buttermilk when churned

1. Smoke the milk gourd or wooden containerminutes
2. Leave milk to sour in the gourd24 h – 2 days · 22–35 °C
3. Optional: shake with water (and reportedly cow urine) to separate butterfat

Safety: Raw-milk product. The reported cow-urine step comes from one museum record that was seen only as a search snippet.

• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, section II "Acidified milks", group 1.1
• Museum of Anthropology UBC, Turkana milk container record (via search snippet; page returned 403)
• Mureithi et al. 2000, J. Ethnobiology 20(1), citing Galvin 1985 (Ngisonyoka Turkana)

Also called tykmælk, Danish thick milk.

thick, tart, aromatic Danish soured milk eaten with ymerdrys (rye-bread crumbs and sugar)

1. High-pasteurise90 °C
2. Sour24 h · 20–25 °C
3. Stir, cool, pack

Safety: Low risk.

• da.wikipedia, Tykmælk

Also called yoğurt, yogurt, yoghurt, yoğurt.

set yoghurt; kaymaklı yoğurt has a cream crust

1. Boil milk, sometimes reduce100 °C
2. Cool to wrist-warm and backslop40–45 °C
3. Wrap and incubate3–8 h · 40–45 °C

Safety: Low risk.

• Wikipedia, Strained yogurt
• Wikipedia, Ayran

Also called زبادي, zabady, zabadi baladi.

set yoghurt

1. Boil and cool milk30 min · 80–90 °C
2. Backslop and incubate in small clay or glass pots12–15 h

Safety: Keeps about 7 days at 5 °C (FAO).

• Systematic review of African traditional fermented milks (73 studies), Frontiers in Food Science and Technology 2026
• Wikipedia, Yogurt (buffalo milk zabadi)
• FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85

Peppered, salted and aged ricotta (Como version of the Insubrian Zincarlin), set with a fruit-flavoured acid whey.

Rind

None, or with moulds

1. Prepare the milk
2. Set the curd90 °C
3. Cut and drain the curd
4. Mould and salt
5. Ripen

• ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Zincarlin' (id 1042)
• ONAF technical sheet PDF
• Regione Lombardia PAT sheet

Also called Zancarlin.

Fermented spreadable goat-cheese paste, the Varese member of the Insubrian Zincarlin family. Moisture 56%, fat on dry matter 62%, protein 13%, pH 5.2.

Rind

None; sold in plastic tubs or glass jars

1. Prepare the milk
2. Mould and salt
3. Ripen

• ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Zincarlin de Varées' (id 1041)
• ONAF technical sheet PDF
• Regione Lombardia PAT sheet