Hello everyone,

I grew up in Brazil. At some point in the late 70's, early 80's, my
mother got some yogurt culture from a friend of hers. We had fresh
yogurt every day. I hated it, but wanted to love it because it was so
exotic. So I ate it. Anyway, now, I live in New York, and am
craving that fresh yogurt. I haven't found the type of culture my
mother had anywhere. Maybe you know about it? I don't know the name of
the bacteria, but the thing looked like small curd cottage cheese. It
wasn't in powder form, and it never got mixed in with the results. We
never ate the culture. It was sort of spongy to the touch, and white.
Every once in a while, we had to throw or give some away, because it
grew and multiplied. We had it on a clean plastic sieve, poured milk on
it, and left it overnight, over a bowl. In the morning, there would be
yogurt in the bowl. We would then rinse the culture (and sieve) very
carefully, and repeat the whole process. Have you ever heard of this?
Do you have any idea of what it was, what it is called, and where I can
get some? My mother passed away almost 18 years ago. Unfortunately,
there's nobody who would know what I am talking about.

Thank you for your help and attention,

Rosane.

wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> I grew up in Brazil. At some point in the late 70's, early 80's, my
> mother got some yogurt culture from a friend of hers. We had fresh
> yogurt every day. I hated it, but wanted to love it because it was so
> exotic. So I ate it. Anyway, now, I live in New York, and am
> craving that fresh yogurt. I haven't found the type of culture my
> mother had anywhere. Maybe you know about it? I don't know the name of
> the bacteria, but the thing looked like small curd cottage cheese. It
> wasn't in powder form, and it never got mixed in with the results. We
> never ate the culture. It was sort of spongy to the touch, and white.
> Every once in a while, we had to throw or give some away, because it
> grew and multiplied. We had it on a clean plastic sieve, poured milk on
> it, and left it overnight, over a bowl. In the morning, there would be
> yogurt in the bowl. We would then rinse the culture (and sieve) very
> carefully, and repeat the whole process. Have you ever heard of this?
> Do you have any idea of what it was, what it is called, and where I can
> get some? My mother passed away almost 18 years ago. Unfortunately,
> there's nobody who would know what I am talking about.
>
> Thank you for your help and attention,
>
> Rosane.
>

You can get it at a health food store. Or you can possibly do it
yourself if you can get real yogurt with live cultures in it. You simply
save off a little of the old yogurt to make the next batch.

When I was a kid, I used to make my own yogurt. Got the packet of
culture at the health food store. It was a powder, if I remember. Once I
had a good batch going, I'd just use a little of previous batch for the
next batch. Keeping the milk the right temperature was the hard part.

When I was a kid in Middle America in the 70s, my Lebanese immigrant
dad would culture yogurt from plain yogurt he bought at the store. He
made sure it was Dannon or some other brand that didn't adulterate, and
that it had live cultures.

Then he scalded the milk, let it cool to (I believe) 110 degrees
Fahrenheit. The Lebanese temp test method is - if you can hold your
finger in it and count to ten before you must pull it out from the
heat, it's the right temperature.

Take a bit of yogurt (like a quarter cup for a good sized bowl of milk
- 6 cups say) and stir the yogurt up in a coffee cup, to "break" the
curd. Stir some of the hot milk into the cup. Then pour the whole mix
into the yogurt, stir it once or twice, cover.

Now comes the part where everybody fools around with different
techniques. The LEbanese way is to bury the pot beneath all the
blankets and winter overcoats in the house. Other folks have done
things with styrofoam coolers, warm ovens, I don't know what else. I
have no experience with that.

If you use live yogurt and whole milk, and you get the temp
approximately right, you should have yogurt in a few hours, like 8. The
longer it sits, the "sourer" it gets.

I've had trouble getting my yogurt to set the last times I've done it,
but I think I'm out of practice, and I think I was using reduced fat
milk. Possibly the yogurt cultures weren't live enough or adulterated.
THe stuff tasted yogurty but didn't set up. I may mess with it again
now that I've decided to eat yogurt regularly for health reasons.

Warning to Barb - read no further

Tonight I made sliced beets in a yogurt-garlic dressing - an idea I saw
somewhere, possibly the SF Chronicle, possibly in an article about
Turkish food but I'm just not sure. Could also be Clifford Wright.
Hubby raved and used his lamb chop to lick up the last bits of
yogurt/beet sauce.

Don't Eastern Europeans eat beets in sour cream? Same thing.

Leila

Leila wrote:

> Tonight I made sliced beets in a yogurt-garlic dressing - an idea I saw
> somewhere, possibly the SF Chronicle, possibly in an article about
> Turkish food but I'm just not sure. Could also be Clifford Wright.
> Hubby raved and used his lamb chop to lick up the last bits of
> yogurt/beet sauce.

Sounds delicious! I love beets, though never thought much of them as a
kid. Perhaps just a taste one grows up to appreciate?

Did you add anything other than garlic to your beets/yogurt concoction?
Goomba

"Leila" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Tonight I made sliced beets in a yogurt-garlic dressing - an idea I saw
> somewhere, possibly the SF Chronicle, possibly in an article about
> Turkish food but I'm just not sure. Could also be Clifford Wright.
> Hubby raved and used his lamb chop to lick up the last bits of
> yogurt/beet sauce.
>
> Don't Eastern Europeans eat beets in sour cream? Same thing.
>
> Leila


Leila, are you saying that you put garlic into some yogurt and sliced your
beets into it?
This is similar to the raita I use where you use small diced cucumber
(without seeds) and a little cumin in a yogurt. Yum!

Even if your beet yogurt/garlic is not as I have reiterated, I think I'll
try it as I asked -- another wonderful simple dish!
Yes, I think beets and sour cream go together in Russia.
Thanks,
Dee Dee

"Leila" > wrote in
oups.com:


> Now comes the part where everybody fools around with different
> techniques. The LEbanese way is to bury the pot beneath all the
> blankets and winter overcoats in the house. Other folks have done
> things with styrofoam coolers, warm ovens, I don't know what else. I
> have no experience with that.

I have a salton yogurt maker. I really like it as it is easy, but you
could use the oven on a low setting.


> If you use live yogurt and whole milk, and you get the temp
> approximately right, you should have yogurt in a few hours, like 8. The
> longer it sits, the "sourer" it gets.

I like about 6 hours, not fully sour, not fully sweet.


> I've had trouble getting my yogurt to set the last times I've done it,
> but I think I'm out of practice, and I think I was using reduced fat
> milk. Possibly the yogurt cultures weren't live enough or adulterated.
> THe stuff tasted yogurty but didn't set up. I may mess with it again
> now that I've decided to eat yogurt regularly for health reasons.

Use some powdered milk.

Here is a recipe that I have not tried but sounds similar to what I make
using my yogurt maker.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/yogurt.htm

--
---
Charles Quinn

"Choosing the lesser of two evils, is still choosing evil" - Jerry Garcia

Dee Randall wrote:
> "Leila" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> >
> > Tonight I made sliced beets in a yogurt-garlic dressing - an idea I saw
> > somewhere, possibly the SF Chronicle, possibly in an article about
> > Turkish food but I'm just not sure. Could also be Clifford Wright.
> > Hubby raved and used his lamb chop to lick up the last bits of
> > yogurt/beet sauce.
> >
> > Don't Eastern Europeans eat beets in sour cream? Same thing.
> >
> > Leila
>
>
> Leila, are you saying that you put garlic into some yogurt and sliced your
> beets into it?

More like, I spooned some yogurt over the beets, thought that chopped
garlic would be good and added that, with some salt. Next time I'll
pound the garlic in a mortar with the salt, then stir that into some
yogurt, then pour the dressing over the beets.

It's not really a raita or yogurt-with-beets; it's beets dressed with
yogurt.

> This is similar to the raita I use where you use small diced cucumber
> (without seeds) and a little cumin in a yogurt. Yum!

I love yogurt and cumin over rice, never tried it with cukes (Lebanese
way with cukes and yogurt is to use garlic, mint and olive oil).

"Leila" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Dee Randall wrote:
>> "Leila" > wrote in message
>> oups.com...
>> >
>> > Tonight I made sliced beets in a yogurt-garlic dressing - an idea I saw
>> > somewhere, possibly the SF Chronicle, possibly in an article about
>> > Turkish food but I'm just not sure. Could also be Clifford Wright.
>> > Hubby raved and used his lamb chop to lick up the last bits of
>> > yogurt/beet sauce.
>> >
>> > Don't Eastern Europeans eat beets in sour cream? Same thing.
>> >
>> > Leila
>>
>>
>> Leila, are you saying that you put garlic into some yogurt and sliced
>> your
>> beets into it?
>
> More like, I spooned some yogurt over the beets, thought that chopped
> garlic would be good and added that, with some salt. Next time I'll
> pound the garlic in a mortar with the salt, then stir that into some
> yogurt, then pour the dressing over the beets.
>
> It's not really a raita or yogurt-with-beets; it's beets dressed with
> yogurt.
>
>> This is similar to the raita I use where you use small diced cucumber
>> (without seeds) and a little cumin in a yogurt. Yum!
>
> I love yogurt and cumin over rice, never tried it with cukes (Lebanese
> way with cukes and yogurt is to use garlic, mint and olive oil).

Thanks.
Would you use the Lebanese way with cukes and yogurt & garlic, mint and
olive oil, in the same way as you did the beets (dressed with yogurt)?
Dee Dee

I've never heard of this method. Did it taste different from yogurt
in grocery stores or Greek yogurt? If not, then you can use some of
the other methods people have suggested here for making yogurt.

If it does taste different, then try asking some Brazilian friends or
family.

My neighbor is from Brazil and her mother used to make yogurt. The
next time I see her, I will ask her about this method. But it's
winter and we don't run into each other so often, so it will be a
while.


On 9 Jan 2006 13:11:59 -0800, wrote:

>Hello everyone,
>
>I grew up in Brazil. At some point in the late 70's, early 80's, my
>mother got some yogurt culture from a friend of hers. We had fresh
>yogurt every day. I hated it, but wanted to love it because it was so
>exotic. So I ate it. Anyway, now, I live in New York, and am
>craving that fresh yogurt. I haven't found the type of culture my
>mother had anywhere. Maybe you know about it? I don't know the name of
>the bacteria, but the thing looked like small curd cottage cheese. It
>wasn't in powder form, and it never got mixed in with the results. We
>never ate the culture. It was sort of spongy to the touch, and white.
>Every once in a while, we had to throw or give some away, because it
>grew and multiplied. We had it on a clean plastic sieve, poured milk on
>it, and left it overnight, over a bowl. In the morning, there would be
>yogurt in the bowl. We would then rinse the culture (and sieve) very
>carefully, and repeat the whole process. Have you ever heard of this?
>Do you have any idea of what it was, what it is called, and where I can
>get some? My mother passed away almost 18 years ago. Unfortunately,
>there's nobody who would know what I am talking about.
>
>Thank you for your help and attention,
>
>Rosane.
>

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> I grew up in Brazil. At some point in the late 70's, early 80's, my
> mother got some yogurt culture from a friend of hers. We had fresh
> yogurt every day. I hated it, but wanted to love it because it was so
> exotic. So I ate it. Anyway, now, I live in New York, and am
> craving that fresh yogurt. I haven't found the type of culture my
> mother had anywhere. Maybe you know about it? I don't know the name of
> the bacteria, but the thing looked like small curd cottage cheese. It
> wasn't in powder form, and it never got mixed in with the results. We
> never ate the culture. It was sort of spongy to the touch, and white.
> Every once in a while, we had to throw or give some away, because it
> grew and multiplied. We had it on a clean plastic sieve, poured milk on
> it, and left it overnight, over a bowl. In the morning, there would be
> yogurt in the bowl. We would then rinse the culture (and sieve) very
> carefully, and repeat the whole process. Have you ever heard of this?
> Do you have any idea of what it was, what it is called, and where I can
> get some? My mother passed away almost 18 years ago. Unfortunately,
> there's nobody who would know what I am talking about.

You might be dealing with "kefir" which uses "grains" to culture. Check
health food stores in your area or look online for a source. Here's a
quick Google result <http://tinyurl.com/c8skf>

"Raw unpasteurised or pasteurised, full-cream, low fat or non-fat fresh
milk is poured into a clean suitable container with the addition of
kefir grains. The content is left to stand at room temperature for
approx. 24 hours. The cultured-milk is strained in order to separate and
retrieve the kefir grains from the liquid-kefir. The grains are added to
more fresh milk, and the process is simply repeated. This simple process
can be performed on an indefinite basis... for kefir grains are forever.
The strained liquid-kefir may either be consumed fresh, refrigerated for
later use, or ripened at room temperature over a period of days before
consuming. The ripening process is useful for individuals who wish to
reduce lactose in their kefir [ for details explaining the simple
procedure, please follow this link situated on a separate Web Page]."
<http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html>

Pastorio

Thank you everyone for your answers. Wow, I never thought to use yogurt
sauce on beets. My horizons were not that wide. I have always loved
beets. Gotta try this now.

OH MY GAWD! That's it. I followed the link to kefir. Thank you, Bob
Pastorio. You found it for me. Before posting here, I went around my
area to health food stores, and asked about this. Everyone looked at me
as if I were speaking greek, or portuguese... Now, I know what to look
for.

This is so great.

Rosane.

Bob (this one) wrote:
> wrote:
>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> I grew up in Brazil. At some point in the late 70's, early 80's, my
>> mother got some yogurt culture from a friend of hers. We had fresh
>> yogurt every day. I hated it, but wanted to love it because it was so
>> exotic. So I ate it. Anyway, now, I live in New York, and am
>> craving that fresh yogurt. I haven't found the type of culture my
>> mother had anywhere. Maybe you know about it? I don't know the name of
>> the bacteria, but the thing looked like small curd cottage cheese. It
>> wasn't in powder form, and it never got mixed in with the results. We
>> never ate the culture. It was sort of spongy to the touch, and white.
>> Every once in a while, we had to throw or give some away, because it
>> grew and multiplied. We had it on a clean plastic sieve, poured milk on
>> it, and left it overnight, over a bowl. In the morning, there would be
>> yogurt in the bowl. We would then rinse the culture (and sieve) very
>> carefully, and repeat the whole process. Have you ever heard of this?
>> Do you have any idea of what it was, what it is called, and where I can
>> get some? My mother passed away almost 18 years ago. Unfortunately,
>> there's nobody who would know what I am talking about.
>
>
> You might be dealing with "kefir" which uses "grains" to culture. Check
> health food stores in your area or look online for a source. Here's a
> quick Google result <http://tinyurl.com/c8skf>
>
> "Raw unpasteurised or pasteurised, full-cream, low fat or non-fat fresh
> milk is poured into a clean suitable container with the addition of
> kefir grains. The content is left to stand at room temperature for
> approx. 24 hours. The cultured-milk is strained in order to separate and
> retrieve the kefir grains from the liquid-kefir. The grains are added to
> more fresh milk, and the process is simply repeated. This simple process
> can be performed on an indefinite basis... for kefir grains are forever.
> The strained liquid-kefir may either be consumed fresh, refrigerated for
> later use, or ripened at room temperature over a period of days before
> consuming. The ripening process is useful for individuals who wish to
> reduce lactose in their kefir [ for details explaining the simple
> procedure, please follow this link situated on a separate Web Page]."
> <http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html>
>
> Pastorio


Thanks Bob; I knew what the OP was talking about, but I didn't remember
anything to use as a keyword to look it up ("grains", etc.)

Best regards,
Bob