Varenets (russian: варенец, lit=the stewed one), sometimes anglicised as stewler or simmeler, is a

fermented milk product Fermented milk products or fermented dairy products, also known as cultured dairy foods, cultured dairy products, or cultured milk products, are dairy foods that have been fermented with lactic acid bacteria such as ''Lactobacillus'', '' Lactococ ...

that is popular in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. Similar to

ryazhenka Ryazhenka or ryazhanka ( Russian: ряженка; uk, ряжанка) is a traditional fermented milk product in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. [] It is made from baked milk by lactic acid fermentation.

, it is made by adding sour cream (Smetana (dairy product), smetana) to

baked milk Baked milk (russian: топлёное молоко, ua, пряжене молоко, be, адтопленае малако) is a variety of boiled milk that has been particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. It is made by simmering m ...

Production

Varenets is a fermented dairy drink with a caramel taste and creamy color. In the old days milk was baked in a

Russian oven The Russian stove (russian: русская печь) is a type of masonry stove that first appeared in the 15th century. It is used both for cooking and domestic heating in traditional Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian households. The Russian sto ...

and fermented with sour cream. Commercially available cultured varenets is milk that has been

pasteurized Pasteurization American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mi ...

and

homogenized Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts often used in the sciences and statistics relating to the uniformity of a substance or organism. A material or image that is homogeneous is uniform in composition or character (i.e. color, shape, siz ...

(with 0.5% to 8.9% fat), and then inoculated with a culture of

Streptococcus thermophilus ''Streptococcus thermophilus'' also known as ''Streptococcus salivarius ''subsp.'' thermophilus'' is a gram-positive bacterium, and a fermentative facultative anaerobe, of the '' viridans'' group. It tests negative for cytochrome, oxidase, an ...

to simulate the naturally occurring bacteria in the old-fashioned product.

References

Fermented dairy products Russian cuisine Russian drinks Russian inventions Yogurt-based drinks {{russia-cuisine-stub

Production

See also

References