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Live-Culture Cuisine: Creamy kefir cooks and chills
• by By Ligaya Figueras • Photo by Carmen Troesser
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Got your probiotics? U.S. food and beverage manufacturers are pushing all sorts of yogurt and other products that promise to restore our digestive woes. (How many bloated women have been cured by a cup of Dannon Activia, I’d like to know?) Yet people of the Balkans discovered the wonders of fermented milk centuries ago.
Kefir, pronounced “KEH-fir” or “keh-FEER,” is a fermented milk drink that most likely originated in the Caucasus Mountains. Kefir is made with “grains,” colonies of yeast and bacteria that look like curds, that are strained out of the milk after fermentation. The presence of yeast in addition to Lactobacilli (a type of bacteria present in fermented dairy products) gives kefir a bubbly effervescence and 1 percent alcohol content.
What’s so great about kefir? Some kefir enthusiasts tout its superiority to yogurt because kefir contains a greater variety of microorganisms, and these strong strains of living cultures will repopulate the digestive tract with good organisms. People with milk sensitivities can usually drink kefir because its microorganisms contain some of the lactase enzyme required to digest lactose. What’s more, kefir can be made from any milk – cow, goat, sheep, you name it – and (get ready for this, all you vegans) from any nondairy substance like coconut milk, fruit juice, vegetable juice, rice milk, soymilk and nut milk. Kefiring is an easy artisanal process because it requires no temperature control and little attention; it sits on a countertop to do its thing.
Kefir tastes pretty tart, so some kefir-makers sweeten the creamy fluid with honey or add chopped fruit before consuming it like yogurt. There are loads of other culinary uses: as a Greek-style salad dressing, a substitute for buttermilk or sour cream, or a base for soup.
Sharing the grains is a big part of kefir culture. My “heirloom” grains were gifted to me from Zemka Dogic of South County, a Bosnian friend who got hers from a friend in Florida who got hers from a Canadian pal. Once you begin wildly fermenting, your kefir grains are gonna grow, so you might as well give some away.
Kefir beverages are sold commercially; Whole Foods Market, Jay International Foods and Local Harvest Grocery are among area retailers that carry them. But it’s a lot more fun to make your own ’cause that’s where all the action is!
READY, SET, FERMENT!
Golden Grocer in the Central West End takes orders for Yogourmet brand freeze-dried kefir starter. ($7.59 for a box of three envelopes; each envelope makes about 2 quarts of kefir.) Go to www.saucemagazine.com for
step-by-step directions on how to activate starter grains.
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Cool ’n’ Creamy Veg Soup
Courtesy of Zemka Dogic
2 servings
2 to 3 large beets (or 4 to 5 small beets)
2 carrots
1 small parsnip
5 radishes
1 yellow onion
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup kefir
¼ cup sour cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1 Tbsp. chopped chives
• Peel and slice the beets. Place them in a saucepan filled with 2 cups of water. Boil until tender. Remove the beets and reserve the liquid.
• Fill a separate saucepan with 2 cups of water and boil the carrots, parsnip, radishes and onion until tender. Remove the vegetables from the saucepan and allow them to cool.
• Place the beets, carrots, parsnip, radishes and onion in a blender. Blend and then add the reserved beet liquid and blend again until smooth. Stir in the lemon juice, kefir, sour cream and salt and pepper.
• Refrigerate until ready to serve. Soup should be served cold. Garnish each serving with parsley and chives.
TO ACTIVATE STARTER GRAINS:
• Fill a jar with 1 quart of milk. (Any percent milk will work.) Add 1 tablespoon of kefir grains and cap the jar.
• Leave the jar at room temperature for 24 to 48 hours. Periodically give the jar a gentle shake. Milk will become bubbly, then coagulate and separate. Remix by shaking.
• Strain the kefir through a sieve with large holes or use a spoon to lift the kefir out of the jar. Reserve the kefir grains. Drink the strained kefir or use it in recipes.
• Place the kefir grains in a clean jar filled with fresh water. Shake the jar to dislodge the creamy kefir left on the grains from the previous fermentation. Once cleaned, the grains are ready for reuse.
Note: Over time, grains will grow and multiply. You can discard the oldest grains or give them away. When not using, kefir grains can be placed in a jar of fresh water and refrigerated for up to six months, frozen for two months or dried for two years. When reactivating the grains, the first batch must be discarded. Heat (such as hot milk or hot water) will kill the grains.
HOW TO USE
• Kefir drink with dates and chocolate: Blend together 1 cup kefir, 6 pitted dates and 2 tablespoons of grated semisweet chocolate.
• Fruity kefir smoothie: Blend together 1 cup kefir, 1 medium banana, 1 cup pineapple and 2 tablespoons maple syrup.
• Use as a substitute for milk and eggs when making waffles or pancakes. This is especially good when used with buckwheat flour.
• Use as a replacement for buttermilk when making Irish soda bread. Kefir’s acidity reacts with baking soda to make baked goods rise.
• Make sour cream: After removing the grains, leave kefir in a capped jar to ferment at room temperature for a few days. Spoon out the kefir that floats above the whey, using as you would sour cream.
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