Milk and dairy products

Kefir grains are a combination of bacteria and yeasts in a matrix of proteins, lipids, and sugars. This symbiotic matrix forms grains that resemble cauliflower. Today, kefir is becoming increasingly popular due to new research into its health benefits. Many different bacteria and yeasts are found in the kefir grains, which are a complex and highly variable community of micro-organisms.

Traditional kefir is fermented at ambient temperatures, generally overnight. Fermentation of the lactose yields a sour, carbonated, slightly alcoholic beverage, with a consistency similar to thin yogurt. Kefir fermented by small-scale dairies early in the 20th century achieved alcohol levels between 1 and 2 percent, but kefir made commercially with modern methods of production has less than 1% alcohol, possibly due to reduced fermentation time.

Variations that thrive in various other liquids exist. They may vary markedly from kefir in both appearance and microbial composition. Water kefir (or kefir d'acqua) is grown in water with sugar (sometimes with added dry fruit such as figs, and lemon juice) for a day or more at room temperature.

Production of traditional kefir requires kefir grains which are a gelatinous community of bacteria and yeasts. Kefir grains contain a water soluble polysaccharide known as kefiran that imparts a rope-like texture and feeling in one's mouth. Kefir grains cannot be produced from scratch, but the grains grow during fermentation, and additional grains are produced. Kefir grains can be bought or donated by other growers. Kefir grains appear white to yellow and are usually the size of a walnut, but may be as small as a grain of rice.

Health and nutrition

One can change the nutrient content by simply fermenting for shorter or longer periods. Both stages have different health benefits. For instance, kefir over-ripened (which increases the sour taste) significantly increases folic acid content.[4] Kefir also aids in lactose digestion as a catalyst, making it more suitable than other dairy products for those who are lactose intolerant. The kefiran in kefir has been shown to suppress an increase in blood pressure and reduce serum cholesterol levels in rats.

Drinking kefir

While some drink kefir straight, many find it too sour on its own and prefer to add fruits, honey, maple syrup or other flavors or sweeteners. Frozen bananas, strawberries, blueberries or other fruits can be mixed with kefir in a blender to make a smoothie. Vanilla, agave nectar and other flavorings may also be added. In Poland Kefir is sold with different varieties of fruit and flavors already added, both in the organic/ecologic and non-organic varieties. It is a breakfast, lunch and dinner drink popular across all areas of the Russian Federation, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland (second largest producer after Russia[citation needed]), Norway, Sweden, Finland (especially Russian and Estonian minorities), Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania where it is known as an affordable health drink. In Southern Slavic countries kefir is consumed anytime in the day, especially with zelnik, burek and banitsa.

Different milk types

Kefir grains will successfully ferment the milk from most mammals, and will continue to grow in such milk. Typical milks used include cow, goat, and sheep, each with varying organoleptic and nutritional qualities. Raw milk has been traditionally used.

In addition, kefir grains will ferment milk substitutes such as soy milk, rice milk, and coconut milk, as well as other sugary liquids including fruit juice, coconut water, beer wort and ginger beer. However, the kefir grains may cease growing if the medium used does not contain all the growth factors required by the bacteria.

Milk sugar is, however, not essential for the synthesis of the polysaccharide that makes up the grains (kefiran), and studies have demonstrated that rice hydrolysate is a suitable alternative medium. Additionally, it has been shown that kefir grains will reproduce when fermenting soy milk, although they will change in appearance and size due to the differing proteins available to them.

Culinary uses

Kefir is one of the main ingredients in Lithuanian cold beet soup љaltibarљиiai (Polish chіodnik), commonly known as cold borscht, and Russian summer soup (okroshka). Other variations of kefir soups and foods prepared with kefir are popular across the former Soviet Union and Poland. Others enjoy kefir in lieu of milk, on cereal or granola.

Yoghurt

Yoghurt, yogurt, yoghourt, youghurt or yogourt (see spelling below), is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Fermentation of the milk sugar (lactose) produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yoghurt its texture and its characteristic tang. Soy yoghurt, a non-dairy yoghurt alternative, is made from soy milk.

It is nutritionally rich in protein, calcium, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12.Yoghurt full:

· Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)

· Energy 60 kcal 260 kJ

· Carbohydrates4.7 g

· Sugars4.7 g

· Fat 3.3 g

· saturated2.1 g

· monounsaturated0.9 g

· Protein 3.5 g

· Riboflavin (Vit. B2)0.14 mg 9%

· Calcium121 mg 12%

The word is derived from Turkish yoрurt, and is related to yoрurmak 'to knead' and yoрun 'dense' or 'thick'. The letter р was traditionally rendered as "gh" in transliterations of Turkish, which used to be written in a variant of the Arabic alphabet until the introduction of the Latin alphabet in 1928. In older Turkish the letter denoted a voiced velar fricative /?/, but this sound is elided between back vowels in modern Turkish, in which the word is pronounced. Some eastern dialects retain the consonant in this position, and Turks in the Balkans pronounce the word with a hard /g/.

In English, there are several variations of the spelling of the word. In the United States, yogurt is the usual spelling and yoghurt a minor variant. In the United Kingdom yoghurt and yogurt are both current, yoghurt being more common, and yoghourt is an uncommon alternative.Canada uses mostly yogurt and yogourt, the latter being particularly common in bilingual packaging, as it is also the spelling in Canadian French; in Australia and New Zealand yoghurt prevails.

Whatever the spelling, the word is usually pronounced with a short o in the UK, a long or short o in New Zealand, and conventionally with a long o in North America, Ireland, Australia and South Africa (UK IPA: /?j?g?t/ or /'j??g?t/; North America /'jo?g?t/; Australia /'j??g?t/ South Africa /'j??g?t/).

History

There is evidence of cultured milk products being produced as food for at least 4,500 years. The earliest yoghurts were probably spontaneously fermented by wild bacteria bacilus bulgaricus living on the goat skin bags carried by nomadic bulgarian people.

The use of yoghurt by mediaeval Turks is recorded in the books Diwan Lughat al-Turk by Mahmud Kashgari and Kutadgu Bilig by Yusuf Has Hajib written in the eleventh century. In both texts the word "yoghurt" is mentioned in different sections and its use by nomadic Turks is described. The first account of a European encounter with yoghurt occurs in French clinical history: Francis I suffered from a severe diarrhea which no French doctor could cure. His ally Suleiman the Magnificent sent a doctor, who allegedly cured the patient with yoghurt. Being grateful, the French king spread around the information about the food which had cured him.

Tarator is a cold soup made of yoghurt popular in the Balkans.

Until the 1900s, yoghurt was a staple in diets of the South Asian, Central Asian, Western Asian, South Eastern European and Central European regions. The Russian biologist Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, had an unproven hypothesis that regular consumption of yoghurt was responsible for the unusually long lifespans of Bulgarian peasants. Believing Lactobacillus to be essential for good health, Mechnikov worked to popularise yoghurt as a foodstuff throughout Europe.

Bulgarian student of medicine in Geneva Stamen Grigorov (1878-1945) first examined the microflora of the Bulgarian yoghurt. In 1905 he described it as consisting of a spherical and a rod- like lactic acid bacteria. In 1907 the rod- like bacteria was called Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus. In 1917 Orla Jensen proved that the production of yoghurt except Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus participate coccus (globe organisms) called Streptococcus thermophilus.

A Sephardic Jewish entrepreneur named Isaac Carasso industrialized the production of yoghurt. In 1919, Carasso, who was from Salonika, started a small yoghurt business in Barcelona and named the business Danone ("little Daniel") after his son. The brand later expanded to the United States under an Americanised version of the name: Dannon.

Yoghurt with added fruit jam was patented in 1933 by the Radlickб Mlйkбrna dairy in Prague. It was introduced to the United States in 1947, by Dannon.

Yoghurt was first introduced to the United States by Armenian immigrants Sarkis and Rose Colombosian, who started "Colombo and Sons Creamery" in Andover, Massachusetts in 1929. Colombo Yogurt was originally delivered around New England in a horse-drawn wagon inscribed with the Armenian word "madzoon" which was later changed to "yogurt", the Turkish name of the product, as Turkish was the lingua franca[citation needed] between immigrants of the various Near Eastern ethnicities [citation needed] who were the main consumers at that time. Yoghurt's popularity in the United States was enhanced in the 1950s and 60's when it was presented as a health food. By the late 20th century yoghurt had become a common American food item and Colombo Yoghurt was sold to General Mills in 1993.

In India, yogurt is commercially sold under the name "curd", or more commonly under the local name of "dahi".

Yoghurt has nutritional benefits beyond those of milk: people who are moderately lactose-intolerant can enjoy yoghurt without ill effects, because the lactose in the milk precursor is converted to lactic acid by the bacterial culture. The reduction of lactose bypasses the affected individuals' need to process the milk sugar themselves.

Yoghurt also has medical uses, in particular for a variety of gastrointestinal conditions, and in preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhea. One study suggests that eating yoghurt containing L. acidophilus helps prevent vulvovaginal candidiasis, though the evidence is not conclusive.

Yoghurt is believed to promote good gum health, possibly because of the probiotic effect of lactic acids present in yoghurt.

Presentation

To offset its natural sourness, yoghurt can be sold sweetened, flavored, or in containers with fruit or fruit jam on the bottom. If the fruit has been stirred into the yoghurt before purchase, it is commonly referred to as Swiss-style. Most yoghurts in the United States have added pectin or gelatin. Some specialty yoghurts, often called "cream line", have a layer of fermented fat at the top. Fruit jam is used instead of raw fruit pieces in fruit yoghurts to allow storage for weeks.[citation needed] Strained yoghurt is the concentrated residue (described as a sort of "yoghurt cheese") produced by filtering plain yoghurt that is without flavorings, gelatin, pectin, or other additives through a paper or cloth filter, and allowing water and whey to drain away. Strained yoghurt is available commercially under the descriptor "Greek-style"

Varieties

Dahi

Dahi, or Thayir, is a yoghurt of the Indian subcontinent, known for its characteristic taste and consistency. The word, Dahi, seems to be derived from Sanskrit word Dadhi. Dadhi is one of the five elixirs (Panchamrita) often used in Hindu ritual.

Dahi is also known as Thayiru (Malayalam), doi (Assamese, Bengali), dohi (Oriya), perugu (Telugu), Mosaru (Kannada), or Thayir (Tamil), Q?zana a p??ner (Pashto).

It is found in different flavours, two of which are famous: 1) sour yoghurt - tauk doi, and 2) sweet yoghurt - meesti or podi doi. In India, it is often used in cosmetics mixed with turmeric and honey. Sour yoghurtis also used as hair conditioner by women in many parts of India.

Other Variants

Strained yoghurts are types of yoghurt which are strained through a cloth or paper filter, traditionally made of muslin, to remove the whey, giving a much thicker consistency, and a distinctive, slightly tangy taste. Some types are boiled in open vats first, so that the liquid content is reduced. The popular East Indian dessert, Mishti Dahi, is a variation of traditional Dahi, offers a thicker, more custard-like consistency, and is usually sweeter than western yoghurts.

A very popular dessert in India called Srikand is made from drained yoghurt, saffron, cardamom or nutmeg and a bit of sugar or fruits like mangos or pineapple.

Strangisto уфсбггйуфь is the main type of commercial yoghurt (гйбпхсфй) in Greece. This is a strained type yoghurt, and thus with no live cultures in it.

Dadiah, or Dadih, is a traditional West Sumatran yoghurt made from water buffalo milk. It is fermented in bamboo tubes.

Labneh is a strained yoghurt used for sandwiches popular in Arab countries. Olive oil, cucumber slices, olives, and various green herbs may be added. It can be thickened further and rolled into balls, preserved in olive oil, and fermented for a few more weeks. It is sometimes used with onions, meat, and nuts as a stuffing for a variety of pies or Kebbeh ( ЯИЙ ) balls.

Chanklich/Shankleesh/ФдЯбнФ is a type of cheese made from cured dried labneh in Lebanese, and surrounding areas, gastronomy. The labneh is salted and dried and rolled into balls. It comes in different varieties raging from the fresh variant in olive oil and thyme to the "aged" balls covered with spices.

Tarator and Cacэk are popular cold soups made from yoghurt, popular during summertime in [[[Albania],]] Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey. They are made with Ayran, cucumbers, dill, salt, olive oil, and optionally garlic and ground walnuts.

Rahmjoghurt, a creamy yoghurt with much higher milkfat content (10%) than most yoghurts offered in English-speaking countries (Rahm is German for cream), is available in Germany and other countries.

Caspian Sea Yoghurt is believed to have been introduced into Japan in 1986 by researchers returning from a trip to the Caucasus region in Georgia. This variety, called Matsoni, is started with Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris and Acetobacter orientalis species and has a unique, viscous, honey-like texture. It is milder in taste than other varieties of yoghurts. Ideally, Caspian Sea yoghurt is made at home because it requires neither special equipment nor unobtainable culture. It can be made at room temperature (20-30°C) in 10 to 15 hours.[20] In Japan, freeze-dried starter cultures are sold in department stores and online, although many people obtain starter cultures from friends.

Jameed is yoghurt which is salted and dried to preserve it. It is popular in Jordan.

Raita is a yoghurt-based South Asian/Indian condiment, used as a sauce or dip. The yoghurt is seasoned with cilantro (coriander), cumin, mint, cayenne pepper, and other herbs and spices. Vegetables such as cucumber and onions are mixed in. The mixture is served chilled. Raita has a cooling effect on the palate which makes it a good foil for spicy Indian dishes.

Zabady is the yoghurt made in Egypt. It is essentially famous in Ramadan fasting as it is thought to prevent feeling thirst during fasting all day long.

Drinks

Ayran or "Dhall" is a yoghurt-based, salty drink popular in [[[Albania]]], Bulgaria, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iranian Azerbaijan, Republic of Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It is made by mixing yoghurt with water and (sometimes) adding salt. The same drink is known as "Dough" in Iran, "Tan" in Armenia, "Laban Ayran" in Syria and Lebanon, "Shenina" in Iraq and Jordan, "Moru" in South India, and "Laban Arbil" in Iraq. A similar drink, doogh, is popular in the Middle East between Lebanon, Iran and Afghanistan; it differs from ayran by the addition of herbs, usually mint, and is carbonated, usually with seltzer water.

Lassi is a yoghurt-based beverage originally from the Indian subcontinent that is usually slightly salty or sweet. Lassi is a staple of Punjab, in some parts of the subcontinent, the sweet version may be commercially flavored with rosewater, mango or other fruit juice to create a totally different drink. Salty lassi is usually flavored with ground, roasted cumin and red chillies, this salty variation may also use buttermilk, and is interchangeably called Ghol (Bangladesh), Mattha (North India), Tak(Maharashtra), or Chaas (Gujarat). Lassi is also very widely drunk in Pakistan.

Kefir is a fermented milk drink originating in the Caucasus. A related Central Asian Turco-Mongolian drink made from mare's milk is called kumis, or airag in Mongolia. Some American dairies have offered a drink called "kefir" for many years with fruit flavours but without carbonation or alcohol.

Sweetened Yoghurt Drinks are the usual form in the US and UK containing fruit and added sweeteners. These are typically called "drinking / drinkable yoghurt", such as Yop. Also available are "yoghurt smoothies" which contain a higher proportion of fruit and are more like Smoothies.

Homemade

Yoghurt is easily produced in the home kitchen without any special equipment except for a thermometer. The basic steps in yoghurt making are to heat milk to 85 °C (185 °F), cooling it to 43 °C (110 °F), stir a starter of live yoghurt cultures (usually lactobacillus bulgaricus and/or streptococcus thermophilus) or a small amount of plain yoghurt (from previous batch or store-bought), ferment at 43 °C (110 °F) for seven hours, and then chill overnight in a refrigerator.

The heating of the milk can be accomplished via direct heat using any number of kitchen appliances. A double boiler or water jacketis ideally suited because it provides very consistent heat without burning. A microwave oven can also be used, but the milk must be first placed in a heat-proof non-metallic container. Using a cold water bathwill quickly lower the milk temperature to 43 °C (110 °F).

Once the mixture is cooled to 43 °C (110 °F), the starter is added and the mixture is kept as close to 43 °C (110 °F) as possible for seven hours. During this period, the active cultures consume the lactose in the milk, curdling it, and creating lactic acid. Lactic acid is what gives yoghurt its distinctive tangy flavour. The longer the mixture sits, the thicker and more tangy it will become. To maintain the milk with bacteria at this warm temperature, a cooking thermometer and an oven are often used. Alternatives include the use of a thermos, special yoghurt-making machines (to make larger quantities of yoghurt), microwaves, and even heating pads.

Additionally, some nonfat-dry milk may be added to thicken the end product and if one wishes to increase the nutritional content of the yoghurt (this is added before the yeast culture or active yoghurt is added to the milk). Good results can be obtained by boiling water, cooling it and adding non-fat dry milk powder to the desired consistency, especially for making lassi which needs the consistency of buttermilk. However, the organic natural yoghurt contains only milk and live active cultures.

Cream

Cream (including light whipping cream) is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators". In many countries, cream is sold in several grades depending on the total butterfat content. Cream can be dried to a powder for shipment to distant markets.

Cream produced by cows (particularly Jersey cattle) grazing on natural pasture often contains some natural carotenoid pigments derived from the plants they eat; this gives the cream a slight yellow tone, hence the name of the yellowish-white colour cream. Cream from cows fed indoors, on grain or grain-based pellets, is white.Contents .

1. Types

2. Other cream products

3. Cream as an ingredient

4. Other foods called "cream"

5. See also

6. References

7. External links

Other cream products

Chart of 50 types of milk products and relationships, including cream (right-click image to enlarge).

Butter is made by churning cream to separate the butterfat and buttermilk. This can be done by hand or by machine.

Whipped cream is made by whisking or mixing air into cream with more than 30% fat, to turn the liquid cream into a soft solid. Nitrous oxide or carbon dioxide may also be used to make whipped cream.

Sour cream, common in many countries including the U.S. and Australia, is cream (12 to 16% or more milk fat) that has been subjected to a bacterial culture that produces lactic acid (0.5%+), which sours and thickens it. Crиme fraоche (28% milk fat) slightly soured with bacterial culture, but not as sour or as thick as sour cream. Mexican crema (or cream espesa) is similar to crиme fraоche. Smetana is a heavy cream product (35-40% milk fat) Central and Eastern European sour cream. Rjome or rшmme is Norwegian sour cream cointaining 35% milk fat, similar to Icelandic rjуmi.

Clotted cream, common in the United Kingdom, is cream that has been slowly heated to dry and thicken it, producing a very high-fat (55%) product. This is similar to Indian malai.

Cream as an ingredient

Cream is used as an ingredient in many foods, including ice cream, many sauces, soups, stews, puddings, and some custard bases, and is also used for cakes. Irish cream is an alcoholic liqueur which blends cream with whiskey and coffee. Cream is also used in curries such as masala dishes.

Cream (usually light/single cream or half and half) is often added to coffee.

For cooking purposes, both single and double cream can be used in cooking, although the former can separate when heated, usually if there is a high acid content. Most UK chefs always use double cream or full-fat crиme fraоche when cream is added to a hot sauce, to prevent any problem with it separating or "splitting". In sweet and savoury custards such as those found in flan fillings, crиme brыlйes and crиme caramels, both types of cream are called for in different recipes depending on how rich a result is called for. It is useful to note that double cream can also be thinned down with water to make an approximation of single cream if necessary.

Other foods called "cream"

Some foods or even cosmetics may be labeled cream not because they are made with cream, but because they make claim to the consistency or richness of cream. In some locations labeling restrictions prevent the use of the word cream to describe such products, so variations such as creme, kreme, creame, or whipped topping may be found.

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying. Butter consists of butterfat, water and milk proteins.

Most frequently made from cows' milk, butter can also be manufactured from that of other mammals, including sheep, goats, buffalo, and yaks. Salt, flavorings and preservatives are sometimes added to butter. Rendering butter produces clarified butter or ghee, which is almost entirely butterfat.

Butter is an emulsion which remains a solid when refrigerated, but softens to a spreadable consistency at room temperature, and melts to a thin liquid consistency at 32-35 °C (90-95 °F). The density of butter is 911 kg/m3 (1535.5 lb/yd3).

It generally has a pale yellow color, but varies from deep yellow to nearly white. Its color is dependent on the animal's feed and is commonly manipulated with food colorings in the commercial manufacturing process, most commonly annatto or carotene .

Etymology

The word butter derives (via Germanic languages) from the Latin butyrum, which is borrowed from the Greek boutyron. This may have been a construction meaning "cow-cheese" (bous "ox, cow" + tyros "cheese"), or the word may have been borrowed from another language, possibly Scythian. The root word persists in the name butyric acid, a compound found in rancid butter and dairy products such as Parmesan cheese.

In general use, the term "butter" refers to the spread dairy product when unqualified by other descriptors. The word commonly is used to describe purйed vegetable or nut products such as peanut butter and almond butter. It is often applied to spread fruit products such as apple butter. Fats such as cocoa butter and shea butter that remain solid at room temperature are also known as "butters". In addition to the act of applying butter being called "to butter", non-dairy items that have a dairy butter consistency may use "butter' to call that consistency to mind, including food items such as maple butter and Witch's butter and non-food items such as baby bottom butter, hyena butter, and rock butter.

Production

Unhomogenized milk and cream contain butterfat in microscopic globules. These globules are surrounded by membranes made of phospholipids (fatty acid emulsifiers) and proteins, which prevent the fat in milk from pooling together into a single mass. Butter is produced by agitating cream, which damages these membranes and allows the milk fats to conjoin, separating from the other parts of the cream. Variations in the production method will create butters with different consistencies, mostly due to the butterfat composition in the finished product. Butter contains fat in three separate forms: free butterfat, butterfat crystals, and undamaged fat globules. In the finished product, different proportions of these forms result in different consistencies within the butter; butters with many crystals are harder than butters dominated by free fats.

Churning produces small butter grains floating in the water-based portion of the cream. This watery liquid is called buttermilk - although the buttermilk most common today is instead a directly fermented skimmed milk. The buttermilk is drained off; sometimes more buttermilk is removed by rinsing the grains with water. Then the grains are "worked": pressed and kneaded together. When prepared manually, this is done using wooden boards called scotch hands. This consolidates the butter into a solid mass and breaks up embedded pockets of buttermilk or water into tiny droplets.

Commercial butter is about 80% butterfat and 15% water; traditionally-made butter may have as little as 65% fat and 30% water. Butterfat consists of many moderate-sized, saturated hydrocarbon chain fatty acids. It is a triglyceride, an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acid groups. Butter becomes rancid when these chains break down into smaller components, like butyric acid and diacetyl. The density of butter is 0.911 g/cm3 (527 oz/in3), about the same as ice.

Types

Hand-made butter

Before modern factory butter making, cream was usually collected from several milkings and was therefore several days old and somewhat fermented by the time it was made into butter. Butter made from a fermented cream is known as cultured butter. During fermentation, the cream naturally sours as bacteria convert milk sugars into lactic acid. The fermentation process produces additional aroma compounds, including diacetyl, which makes for a fuller-flavored and more "buttery" tasting product. Today, cultured butter is usually made from pasteurized cream whose fermentation is produced by the introduction of Lactococcus and Leuconostoc bacteria.

Another method for producing cultured butter, developed in the early 1970s, is to produce butter from fresh cream and then incorporate bacterial cultures and lactic acid. Using this method, the cultured butter flavor grows as the butter is aged in cold storage. For manufacturers, this method is more efficient since aging the cream used to make butter takes significantly more space than simply storing the finished butter product. A method to make an artificial simulation of cultured butter is to add lactic acid and flavor compounds directly to the fresh-cream butter; while this more efficient process is claimed to simulate the taste of cultured butter, the product produced is not cultured but is instead flavored.

Dairy products are often pasteurized during production to kill pathogenic bacteria and other microbes. Butter made from pasteurized fresh cream is called sweet cream butter. Production of sweet cream butter first became common in the 19th century, with the development of refrigeration and the mechanical cream separator. Butter made from fresh or cultured unpasteurized cream is called raw cream butter. Raw cream butter has a "cleaner" cream flavor, without the cooked-milk notes that pasteurization introduces.

Throughout Continental Europe, cultured butter is preferred, while sweet cream butter dominates in the United States and the United Kingdom. Therefore, cultured butter is sometimes labeled European-style butter in the United States. Commercial raw cream butter is virtually unheard-of in the United States. Raw cream butter is generally only found made at home by consumers who have purchased raw whole milk directly from dairy farmers, skimmed the cream themselves, and made butter with it. It is rare in Europe as well.

Several spreadable butters have been developed; these remain softer at colder temperatures and are therefore easier to use directly out of refrigeration. Some modify the makeup of the butter's fat through chemical manipulation of the finished product, some through manipulation of the cattle's feed, and some by incorporating vegetable oils into the butter. Whipped butter, another product designed to be more spreadable, is aerated via the incorporation of nitrogen gas - normal air is not used, because doing so would encourage oxidation and rancidity.

All categories of butter are sold either in salted and unsalted forms. Either granular salt or a strong brine are added to salted butter during processing. In addition to enhanced flavor, the addition of salt acts as a preservative.

The amount of butterfat in the finished product is a vital aspect of production. In the United States, products sold as "butter" are required to contain a minimum of 80% butterfat; in practice most American butters contain only slightly more than that, averaging around 81% butterfat. European butters generally have a higher ratio, which may extend up to 85%.

Clarified butter is butter with almost all of its water and milk solids removed, leaving almost-pure butterfat. Clarified butter is made by heating butter to its melting point and then allowing it to cool off; after settling, the remaining components separate by density. At the top, whey proteins form a skin which is removed, and the resulting butterfat is then poured off from the mixture of water and casein proteins that settle to the bottom.

Ghee is clarified butter which is brought to higher temperatures of around 120 °C (250 °F) once the water has cooked off, allowing the milk solids to brown. This process flavors the ghee, and also produces antioxidants which help protect it longer from rancidity. Because of this, ghee can keep for six to eight months under normal conditions.

History

Traditional butter-making in Palestine. Ancient techniques were still practiced in the early 20th century. National Geographic, March 1914.

Since even accidental agitation can form butter from cream, it is likely that its invention dates from the earliest days of dairying, perhaps in the Mesopotamian area between 9000 and 8000 BCE. The earliest butter would have been from sheep or goat's milk; cattle are not thought to have been domesticated for another thousand years. An ancient method of butter making, still used today in parts of Africa and the Near East, involves a goat skin half filled with milk, and inflated with air before being sealed. The skin is then hung with ropes on a tripod of sticks, and rocked until the movement leads to the formation of butter.

Butter was known in the classical Mediterranean civilizations, but it does not seem to have been a common food. In the Mediterranean climate, unclarified butter spoils quickly - unlike cheese it is not a practical method of preserving the nutrients of milk. The ancient Greeks and Romans seemed to have considered butter a food fit more for the northern barbarians. A play by the Greek comic poet Anaxandrides refers to Thracians as boutyrophagoi; "butter-eaters". In Natural History, Pliny the Elder calls butter "the most delicate of food among barbarous nations", and goes on to describe its medicinal properties. Later, the physician Galen also described butter as a medicinal agent only.

Historian and linguist Andrew Dalby says that most references to butter in ancient Near Eastern texts should more correctly be translated as ghee. Ghee is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as a typical trade article around the 1st century CE Arabian Sea, and Roman geographer Strabo describes it as a commodity of Arabia and Sudan. In India, ghee has been a symbol of purity and an offering to the gods - especially Agni, the Hindu god of fire - for more than 3000 years; references to ghee's sacred nature appear numerous times in the Rig Veda, circa 1500-1200 BCE. The tale of the child Krishna stealing butter remains a popular children's story in India today. Since India's prehistory, ghee has been both a staple food and used for ceremonial purposes such as fueling holy lamps and funeral pyres.

Middle ages

The cooler climates of northern Europe allowed butter to be stored for a longer period before it spoiled. Scandinavia has the oldest tradition in Europe of butter export trade, dating at least to the 12th century. After the fall of Rome and through much of the Middle Ages, butter was a common food across most of Europe, but one with a low reputation, and was consumed principally by peasants. Butter slowly became more accepted by the upper class, notably when the early 16th century Roman Catholic Church allowed its consumption during Lent. Bread and butter became common fare among the middle class and the English, in particular, gained a reputation for their liberal use of melted butter as a sauce with meat and vegetables.

In antiquity, Butter was used for fuel in lamps as a substitute for oil. The Butter Tower of Rouen Cathedral was erected in the early 16th century when Archbishop Georges d'Amboise authorized the burning of butter instead of oil, which was scarce at the time, during Lent.

Across northern Europe, butter was sometimes treated in a manner unheard-of today: it was packed into barrels (firkins) and buried in peat bogs, perhaps for years. Such "bog butter" would develop a strong flavor as it aged, but remain edible, in large part because of the unique cool, airless, antiseptic and acidic environment of a peat bog. Firkins of such buried butter are a common archaeological find in Ireland; the Irish National Museum has some containing "a grayish cheese-like substance, partially hardened, not much like butter, and quite free from putrefaction." The practice was most common in Ireland in the 11th-14th centuries; it ended entirely before the 19th century.

Industrialization

Like Ireland, France became well-known for its butter, particularly in Normandy and Brittany. By the 1860s, butter had become so in demand in France that Emperor Napoleon III offered prize money for an inexpensive substitute to supplement France's inadequate butter supplies. A French chemist claimed the prize with the invention of margarine in 1869. The first margarine was beef tallow flavored with milk and worked like butter; vegetable margarine followed after the development of hydrogenated oils around 1900.

Gustaf de Laval's centrifugal cream separator sped the butter-making process.

Until the 19th century, the vast majority of butter was made by hand, on farms. The first butter factories appeared in the United States in the early 1860s, after the successful introduction of cheese factories a decade earlier. In the late 1870s, the centrifugal cream separator was introduced, marketed most successfully by Swedish engineer Carl Gustaf Patrik de Laval.This dramatically sped up the butter-making process by eliminating the slow step of letting cream naturally rise to the top of milk. Initially, whole milk was shipped to the butter factories, and the cream separation took place there. Soon, though, cream-separation technology became small and inexpensive enough to introduce an additional efficiency: the separation was accomplished on the farm, and the cream alone shipped to the factory. By 1900, more than half the butter produced in the United States was factory made; Europe followed suit shortly after.

In 1920, Otto Hunziker authored The Butter Industry, Prepared for Factory, School and Laboratory, a well-known text in the industry that enjoyed at least three editions (1920, 1927, 1940). As part of the efforts of the American Dairy Science Association, Professor Hunziker and others published articles regarding: causes of tallowiness(an odor defect, distinct from rancidity, a taste defect); mottles (an aesthetic issue related to uneven color); introduced salts; the impact of creamery metals and liquids; and acidity measurement. These and other ADSA publications helped standardize practices internationally.

Per capita butter consumption declined in most western nations during the 20th century, in large part because of the rising popularity of margarine, which is less expensive and, until recent years, was perceived as being healthier. In the United States, margarine consumption overtook butter during the 1950s and it is still the case today that more margarine than butter is eaten in the U.S. and the EU.

In the United States, butter sticks are usually produced and sold in 4-ounce sticks, wrapped in wax paper and sold four to a carton. This practice is believed to have originated in 1907 when Swift and Company began packaging butter in this manner for mass distribution.

Due to historical variances in butter printers, these sticks are commonly produced in two differing shapes:

The dominant shape east of the Rocky Mountains is the Elgin, or Eastern-pack shape. This shape was originally developed by the Elgin Butter Tub Company, founded in 1882 in Elgin, Illinois, and Rock Falls, Illinois. The sticks are 4ѕ inches long and 1ј inches (121 mm Ч 32 mm) wide, and are usually sold in somewhat cubical boxes stacked two by two. Among the early butter printers to use this shape was the Elgin Butter Cutter.

West of the Rocky Mountains, butter printers standardized on a different shape that is now referred to as the Western-pack shape.These butter sticks are 3ј inches long and 1Ѕ inches wide (80 mm Ч 38 mm) and are typically sold packed side-by-side in a rectangular container.

Both sticks contain the same amount of butter, although most butter dishes are designed for Elgin-style butter sticks.

The stick's wrapper is usually marked off as eight tablespoons (120 ml/4.2 imp fl oz; 4.1 US fl oz); the actual volume of one stick is approximately nine tablespoons (130 ml/4.6 imp fl oz; 4.4 US fl oz).

India produces and consumes more butter than any other nation, and allocates almost half of its annual milk pool to butter production. In 1997, India produced 1,470,000 metric tons (1,620,000 short tons) of butter, most of which was consumed domestically. Second in production was the United States (522,000 t/575,000 short tons), followed by France (466,000 t/514,000 short tons), Germany (442,000 t/487,000 short tons), and New Zealand (307,000 t/338,000 short tons). In terms of consumption, Germany was second after India, using 578,000 metric tons (637,000 short tons) of butter in 1997, followed by France (528,000 t/582,000 short tons), Russia (514,000 t/567,000 short tons), and the United States (505,000 t/557,000 short tons). New Zealand, Australia, and the Ukraine are among the few nations that export a significant percentage of the butter they produce.

Different varieties are found around the world. Smen is a spiced Moroccan clarified butter, buried in the ground and aged for months or years. Yak butter is important in Tibet; tsampa, barley flour mixed with yak butter, is a staple food. Butter tea is consumed in the Himalayan regions of Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal and India. It consists of tea served with intensely flavored - or "rancid" - yak butter and salt. In African and Asian developing nations, butter is traditionally made from sour milk rather than cream. It can take several hours of churning to produce workable butter grains from fermented milk.

Storage and cooking

Normal butter softens to a spreadable consistency around 15 °C (60 °F), well above refrigerator temperatures. The "butter compartment" found in many refrigerators may be one of the warmer sections inside, but it still leaves butter quite hard. Until recently, many refrigerators sold in New Zealand featured a "butter conditioner", a compartment kept warmer than the rest of the refrigerator--but still cooler than room temperature--with a small heater. Keeping butter tightly wrapped delays rancidity, which is hastened by exposure to light or air, and also helps prevent it from picking up other odors. Wrapped butter has a shelf life of several months at refrigerator temperatures.

"French butter dishes" or "Acadian butter dishes" involve a lid with a long interior lip, which sits in a container holding a small amount of water. Usually the dish holds just enough water to submerge the interior lip when the dish is closed. Butter is packed into the lid. The water acts as a seal to keep the butter fresh, and also keeps the butter from overheating in hot temperatures. This allows butter to be safely stored on the countertop for several days without spoilage.

Once butter is softened, spices, herbs, or other flavoring agents can be mixed into it, producing what is called a compound butter or composite butter (sometimes also called composed butter). Compound butters can be used as spreads, or cooled, sliced, and placed onto hot food to melt into a sauce. Sweetened compound butters can be served with desserts; such hard sauces are often flavored with spirits.

Melted butter plays an important role in the preparation of sauces, most obviously in French cuisine. Beurre noisette (hazel butter) and Beurre noir (black butter) are sauces of melted butter cooked until the milk solids and sugars have turned golden or dark brown; they are often finished with an addition of vinegar or lemon juice. Hollandaise and bйarnaise sauces are emulsions of egg yolk and melted butter; they are in essence mayonnaises made with butter instead of oil. Hollandaise and bйarnaise sauces are stabilized with the powerful emulsifiers in the egg yolks, but butter itself contains enough emulsifiers--mostly remnants of the fat globule membranes--to form a stable emulsion on its own. Beurre blanc (white butter) is made by whisking butter into reduced vinegar or wine, forming an emulsion with the texture of thick cream. Beurre montй (prepared butter) is melted but still emulsified butter; it lends its name to the practice of "mounting" a sauce with butter: whisking cold butter into any water-based sauce at the end of cooking, giving the sauce a thicker body and a glossy shine--as well as a buttery taste.

In Poland, the butter lamb (Baranek wielkanocny) is a traditional addition to the Easter Meal for many Polish Catholics. Butter is shaped into a lamb either by hand or in a lamb-shaped mould.

Butter is used for sautйing and frying, although its milk solids brown and burn above 150 °C (250 °F)--a rather low temperature for most applications. The smoke point of butterfat is around 200 °C (400 °F), so clarified butter or ghee is better suited to frying.[6] Ghee has always been a common frying medium in India, where many avoid other animal fats for cultural or religious reasons.

Butter fills several roles in baking, where it is used in a similar manner as other solid fats like lard, suet, or shortening, but has a flavor that may better complement sweet baked goods. Many cookie doughs and some cake batters are leavened, at least in part, by creaming butter and sugar together, which introduces air bubbles into the butter. The tiny bubbles locked within the butter expand in the heat of baking and aerate the cookie or cake. Some cookies like shortbread may have no other source of moisture but the water in the butter. Pastries like pie dough incorporate pieces of solid fat into the dough, which become flat layers of fat when the dough is rolled out. During baking, the fat melts away, leaving a flaky texture. Butter, because of its flavor, is a common choice for the fat in such a dough, but it can be more difficult to work with than shortening because of its low melting point. Pastry makers often chill all their ingredients and utensils while working with a butter dough.

Butter also has many non-culinary, traditional uses which are specific to certain cultures. For instance, in North America, applying butter to the handle of a door is a common prank on April Fools' Day.

According to USDA figures, one tablespoon of butter (14 grams/0.5 ounces) contains 420 kilojoules (100 kcal), all from fat, 11 grams (0.4 oz) of fat, of which 7 grams (0.25 oz) are saturated fat, and 30 milligrams (0.46 gr) of cholesterol. In other words, butter consists mostly of saturated fat and is a significant source of dietary cholesterol. For these reasons, butter has been generally considered to be a contributor to health problems, especially heart disease. For many years, vegetable margarine was recommended as a substitute, since it is an unsaturated fat and contains little or no cholesterol. In recent decades, though, it has become accepted that the trans fats contained in partially hydrogenated oils used in typical margarines significantly raise undesirable LDL cholesterol levels as well. Trans-fat free margarines have since been developed.

Butter contains only traces of lactose, so moderate consumption of butter is not a problem for the lactose intolerant. People with milk allergies need to avoid butter, which contains enough of the allergy-causing proteins to cause reactions.

Butter can form a useful role in dieting by providing satiety. A small amount added to low fat foods such as vegetables may stave off feelings of hunger.

Cheese. Cheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. It is produced by coagulation of the milk protein casein. Typically, the milk is acidified and addition of the rennet causes coagulation. The solids are then separated and pressed into final form. Some cheeses also contain molds, either on the outer rind or throughout.

Hundreds of types of cheese are produced. Their different styles, textures and flavors depend on the origin of the milk (including the animal's diet), whether it has been pasteurized, butterfat content, the species of bacteria and mold, and the processing including the length of aging. Herbs, spices, or wood smoke may be used as flavoring agents. The yellow to red color of many cheeses is a result of adding annatto. Cheeses are eaten both on their own and cooked in various dishes; most cheeses melt when heated.

For a few cheeses, the milk is curdled by adding acids such as vinegar or lemon juice. Most cheeses are acidified to a lesser degree by bacteria, which turn milk sugars into lactic acid, then the addition of rennet completes the curdling. Vegetarian alternatives to rennet are available; most are produced by fermentation of the fungus Mucor miehei, but others have been extracted from various species of the Cynara thistle family.

Cheese has served as a hedge against famine and is a good travel food. It is valuable for its portability, long life, and high content of fat, protein, calcium, and phosphorus. Cheese is more compact and has a longer shelf life than the milk from which it is made. Cheesemakers near a dairy region may benefit from fresher, lower-priced milk, and lower shipping costs. The long storage life of cheese allows selling it when markets are more favorable. Contents

Etymology

The origin of the word cheese appears to be the Latin caseus, from which the modern word casein is closely derived. The earliest source is probably from the proto-Indo-European rootkwat-, which means "to ferment, become sour".

In the English language, the modern word cheese comes from chese (in Middle English) and cоese or cзse (in Old English). Similar words are shared by other West Germanic languages -- West Frisian tsiis, Dutch kaas, German Kдse, Old High German chвsi -- all of which probably come from the reconstructed West-Germanic rootkasjus, which in turn is an early borrowing from Latin.

The Latin word caseus is also the source from which are derived the Spanish queso, Portuguese queijo, Malay/Indonesian Language keju (a borrowing from the Portuguese word queijo), Romanian caє and Italian cacio.

When the Romans began to make hard cheeses for their legionaries' supplies, a new word started to be used: formaticum, from caseus formatus, or "molded cheese" (as in "formed", not "molded"). It is from this word that we get the French fromage, Italian formaggio, Catalan formatge, Breton fourmaj and Provenзal furmo. Cheese itself is occasionally employed in a sense that means "molded" or "formed". Head cheese uses the word in this sense.