Varenets Explained

Varenets
Alternate Name:	Stewler, simmeler
Country:	Russia
Main Ingredient:	Milk

Varenets (Russian: варенец|lit=the stewed one), sometimes anglicised as stewler or simmeler, is a fermented milk product that is popular in Russia.^{[1] [2]} Similar to ryazhenka, it is made by adding sour cream (smetana) to baked milk.

Production

Varenets is a fermented dairy drink with a caramel taste and creamy color. Varenets was traditionally produced by baking milk in a Russian oven and fermenting it with sour cream.^[3]

Commercially available cultured varenets is milk that has been pasteurized and homogenized (with 0.5% to 8.9% fat), and then inoculated with a culture of Streptococcus thermophilus to simulate the naturally occurring bacteria in the old-fashioned product.^{[4] [5]}

Similar dairy products

Ryazhenka is the Russian word for a very similar fermented dairy product. While some dictionaries treat these two words as synonyms,^[6] the industry standard GOST distinguishes between the two products, specifying somewhat different production processes.^[4]

Also similar are qatiq and kaymak, commonly found in Turkic countries.^[7] The milk should be heated to a high temperature before fermentation. This is the main similarity of Russian: ryazhenka, Russian: varenets, Crimean Tatar; Crimean Turkish: qatiq, and Turkish: kaymak that distinct it from other yogurt-based products, although kaymak and qatiq are thicker in consistency.

See also

• List of dairy products
• List of Russian dishes
• List of yogurt-based dishes and beverages

Notes and References

1. Book: Goldstein . Darra . A taste of Russia : a cookbook of Russian hospitality . 1999 . Russian Life Books . Montpelier, VT . 9781880100424 . 2nd . registration . varenets. .
2. Book: translated. introduced. Toomre. annotated by Joyce . Classic Russian cooking : Elena Molokhovets' A gift to young housewives . 1998 . Indiana University Press . Bloomington . 978-0-253-21210-8 . 1st pbk. .
3. Book: Molokhovets, Elena . Toomre . Joyce Stetson . Classic Russian Cooking: Elena Molokhovets' A Gift to Young Housewives . 1998 . 1861 . Indiana University Press . 369 . 9780253212108.
4. http://protect.gost.ru/document.aspx?control=7&id=175734 ГОСТ Р 53508-2009
5. http://protect.gost.ru/document.aspx?control=7&id=181080 ГОСТ 31455-2012
6. Encyclopedia: С. И. Ожегов . Н. Ю. Шведова . Ряженка . Толковый словарь русского языка . Российская академия наук. Институт русского языка им. В. В. Виноградова . Москва . 1999 . 5-89285-003-X . [{{cite encyclopedia |author1=Sergey Ozhegov |author-link=Sergey Ozhegov |author2=Natalia Shvedova |title=Ryazhenka |encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of the Russian Language (Ozhegov)|Dictionary of the Russian Language]] |date=1999 |location=Moscow |publisher=V. V. Vinogradov Russian Language Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences |language=Russian}}]
7. Book: А. Сальникова . А. Толиверова . Поваренная книга для молодых хозяек . 1880. [{{cite book |author1=A. Salnikova |author2=A. Toliverova |title=A Cookbook for Young Housewives |date=1880 |language=Russian}}] Reprinted in Book: Пасхальный домашний стол. Блюда к Великому посту и Пасхе . Litres . 2015 . 9785457836976 . 105 .