Forums > Specific Focus > Mexican Kitchen

MariaLund

Aug 9, 2006, 11:50 AM

Post #1 of 12 (2445 views)

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Kefir?

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I wonder if kefir is available in Mexico. I like the stuff very much - it tastes great and has considerable health benefits. Lifeway makes it here in the USA and in larger cities I can get many different versions (like Polish, Russian). Here in Corpus Christi they mostly have sugary varieties (which I despise), but after some pressure Sun Harvest (a mostly organic grocer) started carrying plain. If kefir is not available in Mexico (anywhere at or near Costa Allegre) I can make my own, but would need to import kefir corns, if legal.
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MariaLund

Aug 9, 2006, 10:09 PM

Post #2 of 12 (2418 views)

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Re: [MariaLund] LIVE youghurt?

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Ouch, nobody seems to know about availability of kefir, which probably means nobody looked for it and it may not be available. Ok, does someone know if there is a LIVE yoghurt in Mexico, that is yoghurt with live acidophilus and bifidus??? (Not the sorrily overprocessed dead variety, I don't care about eating dead yoghurt).
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sfmacaws

Aug 10, 2006, 12:18 AM

Post #3 of 12 (2413 views)

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Re: [MariaLund] LIVE youghurt?

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OK, I'll bite. If by Kefir you mean a yoghurt drink, preferably unflavored, that is made from cow's milk not some other mammal??? then yes, it exists in Mexico. It's quite popular actually although mainly the fruit flavored ones but there are natural, unflavored as well. The one I usually buy is Activa and it has live acidophilus. There are other brands, LaLa has one as do other brands. In fact the yoghurt section of the Mexican supermarket is one of the largest areas in most of them.

Now, I want to know what a kefir corn is?

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

rainer

Aug 10, 2006, 4:34 AM

Post #4 of 12 (2411 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] LIVE youghurt?

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kefir
Smile

MariaLund

Aug 10, 2006, 6:41 AM

Post #5 of 12 (2402 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] LIVE youghurt?

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Actually, traditionally kefir was most often made with goat and sheep's milk, but it can be made with coconut, soy or rice milk as well. It is a probiotic drink, and the "standard" one available in the USA uses 10 live and active kefir cultures. Rainer's link is good. Here are two others: www.kefir.net and www.kefir.com.

Ok, I'll take some refrigerated and/or dehydrated grains with me and anyone who comes to vist me in Mexico can taste either dairy or vegeratian kefir. Since grains as such are not a dairy product, I don't think aduana will have a problem with it. When I am at it, I'll also take some cheese making cultures and rennets.
If I have a supply of goats and/or sheeps milk I can make some "mean" "artisanal" cheeses :-).
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(This post was edited by MariaLund on Aug 10, 2006, 7:39 AM)

Bubba

Aug 10, 2006, 7:00 AM

Post #6 of 12 (2400 views)

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Re: [MariaLund] LIVE youghurt?

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Now I am curious, back in the 60´s some friends from Bulgaria gave us kefir. They and my family made a drink out of water, lemon and suger. After leaving the grains to marinate over night with the lemon water sugar mixture, it made a pleasant drink slightly fizzy. My cousin brought me some last time she came here and I made some of it for about 6 months and then got bored with it and threw all the grains away after giving some away. The stuff is like a monster it keeps multiplying. Is it the same type of kefir you are talking about?

(This post was edited by Bubba on Aug 10, 2006, 1:50 PM)

MariaLund

Aug 10, 2006, 7:36 AM

Post #7 of 12 (2391 views)

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Re: [Bubba] LIVE youghurt?

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Yes and no, Bubba. I think you had water kefir grains (they also have a Latin American name of tibi or tibicos), not milk kefir grains. They are intercheangeable to some extend, also not wholly, as a main info source on kefir claims ( with a pretty detailed chemistry explanations). However, here is good news for those who became interested. I found that there are two sources of kefir grains in Mexico: one in Monterrey and one in San Louis Potosi, one for milk kefir grains and the other for water kefir grains. Here is the link: http://www.torontoadvisors.com/Kefir/kefir-list.php
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sfmacaws

Aug 10, 2006, 12:10 PM

Post #8 of 12 (2373 views)

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Re: [MariaLund] LIVE youghurt?

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Shoot! Down there in Corpus Christi you could probably get some good cultured buttermilk, it sounds about the same.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

MariaLund

Aug 10, 2006, 12:43 PM

Post #9 of 12 (2370 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] LIVE youghurt?

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Lol, definitively not the same, Jonna, buttermilk has different cultures and - in commercial buttermilk - they are not live. Mixes of various cultures give different tastes ... and different health benefits: some cultures are very "shy" while others are aggressive and try to crowd out the "shy" ones, while the "shy ones are the most beneficial.

Only in Sweden (which is neither a part of Caucasus nor Eastern Europe) there are at least five different varieties of pure cultured milk (not counting different milk variations and fruit or other additives). It's like with cheeses: camembert does not taste like gorgonzola, nor like cheddar, gouda, mascarpone, mozzarella, ricotta and so on. It might taste a bit like brie, but even there is a distinctive difference. And even camembert will taste different made from spring milk and fall milk, based on differences in humidity, temperature and a lot of other factors affecting it while it is maturing. Drop in over when I get to Costa Allegre (in less than a month) and I'll make some kefir for you. I might even make some yoghurt and buttermilk, too, just to let you taste them all and see the difference.

Just watch out: you might get addicted: when I started sharing my excess cottage made kefir and cheeses in Monteverde (Costa Rica) I became soon inundated with requests from residents and restaurants to make them available commercially... I had neither time nor inclination (since I made cultured milk drinks and cheeses only when it rained too hard to go hike the jungle) and referred them to the local cheese factory... (Monteverde has a famous cheese factory with excellent cheeses, ice-creams etc... they just did not have the type of stuff I was making) and finally I had to teach some locals how to make them. (Not rocket science, but you need to be very clean and pay attention to what's happening all the time, or you'll get at best mediocre results).
Come to think of it ... it could make a good addition to that organic farm concept with goats we discussed not so long ago. Would add a few high-margin products to the farm output.
Vivere non est necesse, navigare necesse est!

(This post was edited by MariaLund on Aug 10, 2006, 12:48 PM)

sfmacaws

Aug 10, 2006, 12:51 PM

Post #10 of 12 (2366 views)

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Re: [MariaLund] LIVE youghurt?

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I don't think we'll get to the Costa Alegre this year, but with us you never know - that sounds like a very tempting taste test. I think the only good reason to have goats around is the cheese.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

wendy devlin

Aug 10, 2006, 1:08 PM

Post #11 of 12 (2364 views)

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Re: [MariaLund] LIVE youghurt?

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I keep a small herd of dairy goats.
(sheep, pigs, ducks, chickens and rabbits too)

We drink unpasteurized fresh goat's milk every day. Make yogurt every week, and when there's a gallon or two extra milk, I make cottage cheese, a sweet cheese(like a mozzarella and ricotta. The whey goes to the pigs or chickens.

Which cheese-making cultures do you prefer?

I'm thinking of trying to make cured cheeses again.

In the past, I wasn't very successful at curing my cheeses. My neighbour who is quite a successful cheese-maker and also sells milk, kefir, yogurt, etc. has a fridge, especially controlled to temperatures condusive to cheese-curing.

This is what I thought I'd have to buy...before starting up again.
Unless there is other successful ways of curing cheese.

She also orders the cultures by mail order and they're a bit pricey as is any specialty equipment. But hay! This microfarm could use more tasty products:)

BTW It was the herd of feral goats that ran through our campsite in Melaque in 1993, that gave me the idea of keeping goats-the poor man's cow, in the first place.

(This post was edited by wendy devlin on Aug 10, 2006, 1:11 PM)

MariaLund

Aug 10, 2006, 9:43 PM

Post #12 of 12 (2338 views)

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Re: [wendy devlin] LIVE youghurt?

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Wendy,

the most successfull way of curing cheese I know is to find a cave :-) with the near constant right temperature and humidity - a specially programmed refrigerator (like the wine ones) used for curing cheese only is the close second.
I smoke sheep cheeses on an open fire in a mountain meadow just like the shep hearders from Carpatia have done for ages. Ricotta is a whey cheese ... do you have to give pigs and chickens all of your whey? If not, I can give you a recipe ... I hope I haven't packed the cheese books yet. Em me if you want it. You can make fresh and semi soft cheeses before you buy that refrigerator and expensive presses (though you can make a press and fix an old refrigerator - a handyman is usually cheaper that special equipment, especially if you have one at home ;-)). I'll em you with some details about cultures. In Texas you can buy some cheese making staff in farm supply stores - a lot cheaper than from mail order.
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