Fermented milk products like cheese, yogurt, kefir, and soured milk were initially made in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Live bacteria cultures are added to fresh milk to make sour or fermented milk, which lasts longer than fresh milk. Cheese, yogurt, and sour cream are also popular fermented dairy products, while kefir is made through a different process using kefir grains.
There are many fermented milk products available around the world. These products were initially made in Asia, Africa and Europe, where dairy animals such as sheep, camels, horses, cows and goats were domesticated. Cheese, yogurt, kefir, and soured milk are the main varieties of fermented dairy products, although there are many regionally grown types of dairy foods.
Sour or fermented milk is the basic product made from fermented milk. It is made by adding live bacteria cultures to fresh milk and letting the milk sit until it is sour. While this process is similar to the process that could spoil milk, the bacteria added to milk have been specially selected as healthy bacteria. These bacteria eat lactose and excrete the lactic acid that makes milk sour, preserving it to last longer than fresh milk.
One of the most common fermented milk products is cheese. While not all cheeses are fermented, many are because the fermentation process allows the cheese to last a long time at room temperature without going bad. Cheese has been made for thousands of years and is now made all over the world. Cow, sheep, goat and buffalo milk are used most frequently in its production, although it is possible to make cheese from the milk of any mammal.
Also produced around the world, yogurt is another of the most popular fermented milk products. The process of making yogurt is similar to that of making cheese. Live bacteria are added to fresh milk and left to ferment for a short time. Yogurt tastes similar to fresh milk, although more acidic. Another of the commonly seen fermented dairy products, sour cream is made in essentially the same way, although cream or light cream is used instead of milk.
Kefir is another fermented milk product found all over the world. This product is similar to yogurt but is thin enough to drink from a glass. While similar in flavor to yogurt, kefir is made through a different process. This product is fermented through the use of kefir grains, which are colonies of many different types of bacteria that have clumped together. These groups of bacteria are placed in fresh dairy products and then removed once the dairy product has been cultured and fermented properly.
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