Is Irish buttermilk different from Estonian buttermilk?

Is Irish buttermilk different from Estonian buttermilk? - Green hat and coins on table with Irish flag

I'm Irish but living in Estonia. Just now, I decided to make some soda bread which I have made a couple of times before. I bought some "pett", which Google translate and a professional chef told me is the translation for buttermilk, but what I got was closer to yogurt. It was white not yellow and had no butter smell.

Anyway, I made the bread and it came out OK, but was missing something (likely butteriness and saltiness). A little confused, I turned to Wikipedia and found that in some cultures people drink it. Something that seems unthinkable with the buttermilk I am used to, but reasonable for the Estonian buttermilk.

Is Irish buttermilk different?



Best Answer

Just to confirm what Joe said with some sources, the Estonian Dairy Association confirms that Estonian buttermilk or pett is a fermented product. That is, one takes milk and adds a culture of lactic acid bacteria (similar to how yogurt is made, though typically buttermilk is fermented with slightly different bacteria at lower temperatures, resulting in a thinner product).

Meanwhile, Irish dairies seem to refer to Irish buttermilk as derived from churning butter. And official documents and reports such as this one from Ireland define buttermilk as the following:

Drinking milk comprises raw milk, whole milk, skimmed milk and semi-skimmed milk consumed in liquid form. Buttermilk is a derived product remaining after milk or cream has been made into butter.

Buttermilk derived from butter making can vary significantly in its composition, flavor, texture, etc. Some butter is made by churning fresh cream, which produces a buttermilk with little acidity, while I assume much of Irish butter is made with cultured cream, producing the typical sour product that's superficially similar in some ways to fermented "buttermilk." But how much butter solids and fat remain in buttermilk made from churned cream is up to the manufacturer and the process. The color can also vary depending on that fat content, as well as the exact type of milk (breed of cows, feed, etc.).




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Does all buttermilk have live cultures?

Because of its live cultures, buttermilk also lasts longer than regular milk. Though it won't contain any live bacterial cultures, a tangy version of buttermilk can be made by adding a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice to regular milk, then letting the mixture sit for 10 minutes to curdle.

How many types of buttermilk are there?

There are two types of buttermilk: sweet cream buttermilk which is produced by treating the pasteurised cream with butter starter cultures after separation of the butterfat to yield so-called 'fermented buttermilk', and sour cream buttermilk which is prepared by a procedure in which the fermentation is done before ...

What could I use instead of buttermilk?

To make a dairy-based buttermilk substitute, add an acidic substance \u2014 typically lemon juice, vinegar, or cream of tartar \u2014 to milk. You can also use plain yogurt, sour cream, kefir, or buttermilk powder.

What is the difference between buttermilk?

Buttermilk is obtained when the fat has been taken out from the milk to make butter. Buttermilk is considerably lower in calories and fat content but high in calcium, Vitamin B12 and potassium than regular milk. One cup of buttermilk may contain up to 99 calories while milk may contain up to 157 calories.



🔵 Truth About Buttermilk - What Is It? How To Substitute?




More answers regarding is Irish buttermilk different from Estonian buttermilk?

Answer 2

It sounds like what you're getting is "cultured buttermilk", which as you noted, is not the leftover liquid from having made butter, but is basically runny yogurt.

I'm not familiar with Irish buttermilk, but it sounds like it's the older sense of the term "buttermilk". (ie, the milk leftover from making butter)

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