Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and The... (27 page)

Cultured or fermented dairy products play a role in many traditional cuisines. In fact, only in the West is milk consumed in a "natural" or unfermented state, and this Occidental practice is relatively new. Before the age of industrialization, Europeans consumed milk as yoghurt, cheese, clabber, or curds and whey. Without pasteurization or refrigeration, milk sours and separates spontaneously. This is due to the process of lacto-fermentation during which lactic-acid-producing bacteria begin digesting or breaking down both milk sugar (lactose) and milk protein (casein). When these friendly bacteria have produced enough lactic acid to inactivate all putrefying bacteria, the milk is effectively preserved from spoilage for several days or weeks and in the case of cheese, which undergoes further fermentation of a different type, for several years.

Yoghurt is the fermented milk product with which we are most familiar in the West. It comes originally from Bulgaria. Unlike spontaneously soured milk, yoghurt is produced by first heating milk and then adding a culture. In Russia, a popular beverage is
kefir
, a slightly effervescent beverage, sometimes mildly alcoholic, of fermented cow, goat or sheep milk.
Koumiss
, another Russian beverage popular in the eastern regions, is made from mare's milk. Scandinavian countries produce a cultured milk product in wooden barrels called
longfil,
which keeps for many months. The Norwegians make a variety of
longfil
called
kjaeldermelk,
which they produce in caves. In the Middle East, milk is soured in special containers to produce
laban
. In India, milk from cows or water buffalo is soured to produce
dahi
, which the Indians consume with every meal. The Masai tribesmen of Africa consume milk as their principal food—always in soured or cultured form.

In Europe, soured milk products are still extensively used. Sour or fermented cream—
creme fraiche
—is an indispensable ingredient in soups and sauces. The delicious sour butter of France and Germany is made from churning fermented cream. Cultured butter needs no salt and its high enzyme content makes it easy to digest. Cream cheese and cottage cheese are traditionally made by allowing the fermentation process to continue for several days until the white curds or casein-containing portion of the milk separates from the whey. When this cream cheese is weighted down or inoculated with further cultures, it undergoes an additional fermentation process resulting in many different types of cheese. Modern cheese makers consider whey a waste product, but in earlier times it was used to produce a variety of other fermented foods and beverages.

Like the process of sprouting grains, fermentation of milk results in numerous beneficial changes. Fermentation breaks down casein, or milk protein, one of the most difficult proteins to digest. Culturing restores many of the enzymes destroyed during pasteurization including lactase, which helps digest lactose or milk sugar, and numerous enzymes, which help the body absorb calcium and other minerals. Lactase produced during the culturing process allows many people who are sensitive to fresh milk to tolerate fermented milk products. Both vitamin B and vitamin C content of milk increase during fermentation.

Research has shown that regular consumption of cultured dairy products lowers cholesterol and protects against bone loss. In addition, cultured dairy products provide beneficial bacteria and lactic acid to the digestive tract. These friendly creatures and their by-products keep pathogens at bay, guard against infectious illness and aid in the fullest possible digestion of all food we consume. Perhaps this is why so many traditional societies value fermented milk products for their health-promoting properties and insist on giving them to the sick, the aged and nursing mothers. In the absence of high-technology sanitation systems, lacto-fermented dairy foods, as well as lacto-fermented beverages and vegetables, provide essential protection against infectious disease.

A great many recipes in this book call for fermented dairy products in the form of cultured milk, cultured cream cheese, yoghurt, kefir, whey and cultured cream. Cultured sour cream can be made using a Finnish culture called
piima
(See
Sources
), or with cultured buttermilk to produce a European-style sour cream called
creme fraiche. Creme fraiche
is available commercially in many gourmet or specialty food shops. In sauces, cultured cream gives heavenly results.

Homemade cultured whey is indispensable for making fermented vegetables, chutneys, beverages and grain dishes. It can be made from various types of cultured milk, good quality yoghurt or even fresh raw milk, which will sour and separate naturally when left at room temperature for several days.

The recipes presented here are designed to allow you to produce fermented dairy products from cow or goat milk with a minimum of difficulty. Start with the best quality milk you can find, preferably clean raw milk from pasture-fed animals.

Milk culturing is an art and the recipes presented here may need adjusting to individual circumstances. The
piima
culture is the most temperature-sensitive, requiring a constant ambient temperature of 72 to 75 degrees. The kefir culture, which produces a thicker sour milk, is not as temperature-sensitive as
piima
culture, making it easier to use, but the grains must be added to new milk frequently to keep them active. A kefir powder has been developed which is very easy to use and stores well, but it requires a new packet for each culture. The buttermilk culture is also relatively foolproof, is not temperature-sensitive and remains active for many weeks without reculturing.

It pays to make milk culturing part of your routine so that you always have on hand the products you need for healthy snacks and appetizing meals.

PIIMA STARTER CULTURE

Makes 1 cup

1 cup good quality cream

1 envelope piima powder (See
Sources
)

Piima culture (also called
viili
or Finnish culture) is derived from the milk of cows that feed on the butterwort plant. Centuries ago, Scandinavian farmers discovered that milk clabbered better when their cows consumed this herb.

Start with the best quality cream you can find, such as the thick old-fashioned cream available at health food stores and gourmet food shops. Raw cream is best, but pasteurized cream will do. Do not use ultrapasteurized cream—it does not contain enough nutrients to support your culture.

Using a room thermometer, find a place in your house where the temperature is a fairly constant 72-75 degrees, such as a closet or cupboard with a light bulb or a shelf over a refrigerator or near a heating vent. If the temperature is below 69 degrees, the culture will become stringy and slimy. If the temperature is more than 75 degrees, the culture will separate and sour.

Place the cream in an impeccably clean glass jar. It is very important to avoid contamination by airborne bacteria or by aerosols, sprays, paint fumes, dusts, molds, yeast and insecticides. Stir in the
piima
powder and cover tightly. Leave in a spot that is 72-75 degrees for about 24 hours until it thickens slightly. Transfer to refrigerator, where it will become firm. The culture will keep well chilled for several months. Always test it with your nose before using. If it smells bad, throw it out and start again.

The tradition of preserving foods, enhancing their nutritive value, and making them more interesting to eat through fermentation is a very ancient one. A form of yoghurt was said to have been revealed to Abraham by an angel; and the starter particles of kefir, a substance similar to yogurt but thin enough to be drinkable, are called "grains of the Prophet Mohammed," the Prophet having been credited with their introduction. William H. Lee, PhD
The Friendly Bacteria

The fermentation of milk makes it more assimilable to persons with lactose intolerance because a large part of the lactose is transformed into lactic acid, and because the presence of the enzyme lactase in fermented milk products helps break down lactose in the digestive tract. Furthermore, a portion of the milk protein (casein) is decomposed, liberating the amino acids of which it is formed. Research shows that proteins in yoghurt are digested twice as quickly as those of nonfermented milk. Claude Aubert
Les Aliments Fermentes Traditionnels

During fermentation of milk products, thirty to forty percent of the lactose is broken down so that the high lactose content is reduced. However, a special enzyme activity also takes place. Fermented products that are not pasteurized or heated in ways that destroy enzyme activity have significant levels of enzymes that contribute to the digestion of lactose in the intestine. Dr. Betty Kamen
Health Freedom News

PIIMA MILK

Makes 1 quart

1 quart fresh whole milk, nonhomogenized

1 tablespoon
starter culture

This is a good way to add enzymes and restore nutrients to pasteurized milk. The resultant product is not too thick and can be drunk like milk and used in infant formula (
Milk-Based Formula
). Try to find milk from a dairy that allows its cows (or goats) to pasture feed. Do not use ultrapasteurized or homogenized milk.

Place milk in a clean glass container. Add the starter, stir or shake well, cover tightly and place in a spot where the temperature is a stable 72-75 degrees for 20 to 24 hours. Chill well.

Each isolated Swiss valley or village has its own special feast days of which athletic contests are the principal events. The feasting in the past has been largely on dairy products. The athletes were provided with large bowls of cream as constituting one of the most popular and healthful beverages, and special cheese was always available. . .their cream products took the place of our modern ice cream. . .it is reported that practically all skulls that are exhumed in the Rhone Valley and, indeed, practically throughout all of Switzerland, where graves have existed for more than a hundred years, are found with relatively perfect teeth; whereas the teeth of people recently buried have been riddled with caries or lost through this disease. Weston Price, DDS
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration

CULTURED BUTTER AND BUTTERMILK

Makes ½ pound butter and 2 cups buttermilk

1 quart
piima cream
or
creme fraiche
or 1 quart raw cream left at room temperature

for about 8 hours to sour

Place cultured or soured cream in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until butter forms. Turn butter and buttermilk into a strainer set over a container. Transfer butter to a stainless steel or wooden bowl and press out buttermilk with a wooden spoon or paddle, adding to buttermilk already in the container by pouring through a strainer. Wash the butter by adding a little water and pressing some more. Repeat until butter no longer exudes buttermilk. Form butter into a ball, lift it out of the bowl and pat it dry with paper towels. Place butter in a crock or container and buttermilk in glass containers, cover and chill well. (Butter may be frozen for long-term storage.)

Variation: Sweet Butter

Use fresh cream that has not been soured. You may add
½ teaspoon sea salt
if desired.

[The Rosickys] had been at one accord not to hurry through life, not to be always skimping and saving. They saw their neighbours buy more land and feed more stock than they did, without discontent. Once when the creamery agent came to the Rosickys to persuade them to sell him their cream, he told them how much the Fasslers, their nearest neighbours, had made on their cream last year. "Yes," said Mary, "and look at them Fassler children! Pale, pinched little things, they look like skimmed milk. I'd rather put some colour into my children's faces than put money into the bank." Willa Cather
Neighbour Rosicky