Cultured Cream, or My Approximated Shemenet

One of the first foods that I fell in love with, when I was three years old, was fromage blanc.  Fromage blanc is a French white cheese. It's a soft, spoonable cheese, a little like sour cream, a little like cream cheese.   I remember it as creamy and decadent, and that I couldn't stop eating it.  This was exciting for my mother, because I was a poor eater, one of those children who just can't be bothered to eat.  But this, I ate. 

Then we moved to Egypt, and I wept for my fromage blanc.

Later on, we moved to Jerusalem, and there my mother found another dairy product that was similar to  fromage blanc.  Rich, creamy and slightly tart, we bought this yogurt-like cultured cream from the Jewish side, and it was sold in small plastic cups, right next to the yogurt.  It was called shemenet.   It was so thick that when we inserted a spoon into the cup, the spoon could stand straight up.  Shement came in several varieties, with higher fat versions (30 percent or higher), and lower fat versions, (I think 18%).  My mother used it as a substitue for sour cream and stirred it into sauces and spread it on top of her cheesecakes.  While we did sometimes eat it straight, it was so rich that we usually only had a few tablespoons at a time, and would spoon it over fruit, or mix it up with a little jam for a special treat. 

And now that I no longer live in Jerusalem, I miss my shemenet.

Last summer, while in the midst of one of my shemenet laments, my mother said to me, you know, you can make shemenet.  Just turn cream into yogurt.  So, I tried it. I simply cultured some cream with a little yogurt.   And it is so, so good.  If I had known how easy this was to make, I would have started making this years and years ago. 

Is this shemenet?  I am not sure.  I can't seem to find any information on what shemenet actually is.  But it tastes similar to shemenet, creamy and full bodied, just a little less tangy, possibly due to the difference in the yogurt culture.  Still, I'll take it. 

 

Cultured Dairy

Long before refrigeration, all milk would have either been consumed quickly, or would have been allowed to ferment into a variety of dairy products - kefir, yogurt, cheese, and butter, to name a few.  And because the warm climate meant that fresh raw milk didn't keep long, traditionally Arabs converted most of their milk into fermented foods.  You can see that tradition continued today.  Palestinians never drink milk unless it has been heated.  They serve hot milk at breakfast or before bed, often mixed with a little coffee.  For their dairy, they serve yogurt at most meals, or eat labani, milk kefir and several different cheeses.  My mother made my sister and me drink milk with our meals, but only because our American father encouraged it.  I remember thinking it was odd that my mother, who poured our milk, rarely finished her own glass of milk. 

But we are learning that there is wisdom in the old ways.  Culturing milk wasn't just a way of preserving it, it actually  improved the nourishing value of the milk.  When you culture dairy, even pasteurized milk, you are turning it back into a living food, full of health-building microbes that colonize our digestion and increase our health. Probiotic rich foods have been shown to improve digestion, immunities and overall health.

When you are making cultured cream, the more "alive" your cream is, the better. If you have access to raw milk, you don't even have to add any culture to it. You can just leave it out for a few hours and it will turn into cultured cream - clabber - naturally. Ultra-pasteurized cream will work, but it will take longer to culture.

 

 

Cultured Cream

2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons yogurt

1.  Pour cream into a clean jar.  Add yogurt and mix or shake to combine.

2.  Cover jar with a clean cloth and leave out in a warm spot in your kitchen for 12-24 hours.  Check after 12 hours to see if it has set up.  It will have the consistency of loose yogurt or whipped cream.  Stir or shake and it is ready to serve.  Store in the refigerator, where it will set up, with a firmer consistency. 

Some Ways to Enjoy Cultured Cream:

Serve with fresh fruit
Spoon some on top of oatmeal
Add a few spoonfuls to a smoothie
Turn into ice cream
Use to finish a cream sauce
Add a little to your plain yogurt
Turn into cultured butter


Coming soon - a recipe for "Banana Swirl" - a frozen treat concocted by my daughter. 

Shared at Thank Your Body Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Fresh Bites Friday, Fight Back Friday,Tasty Traditions, Fat Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, and Real Food Wednesday.