Fermented Milk Products from All Over the World. Tejföl
Tejföl is sour cream in Hungary, a dairy product that is highly used in the Hungarian cuisine. Some of the most popular recipes in this country involve sour cream or tejföl, so, in case you will end up visiting Hungary, don’t be surprised if almost everything there is served with tejföl. From toast to stuffed cabbage rolls, beans soup, and desserts, like sweet dumplings, they are all accompanied by a couple of spoons of thick and sweet sour cream.
Sour cream or tejföl is made by souring the cream that was collected during the fermentation of fresh milk. The best traditional tejföl is made by using whole farm milk, as it has the right amount of fat that will make a rich and sweet tejföl. If whole milk is left to ferment at room temperature, after a day, cream forms at the top in a thick layer. This cream can then be collected and used to make sour cream. Lactic acid bacteria contributes to this process, continuing the fermentation process, which both sours and thickens the cream. Of course, commercially produced sour cream or tejföl does not have the same properties, as thickeners are used, due to the fact that pasteurized milk has a lower content of fat, which means that the final product will also have less fat. Also, additives and preservatives are added, besides just culturing the milk, so that the product has a longer shelf life.
