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Fermented milk from Dominican Republic

Borugaboruga

Boruga is a sweetened sour milk from the Dominican Republic. Raw whole cow's milk is left unheated to sour on its own, then sugar is added at 13 % of the milk. It is a yellowish, lumpy, semi-fluid drink sold in plastic containers.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Boruga itself. Its own sources do not record how it is made, so the steps and scenes below are those of Leche agria (Nicaraguan sour milk), the closest documented fermented milk ferment, shown as a guide to the method, not as a record of Boruga.

Short entryFermented milk

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceFAO gives the sugar as a share of the milk; no other amounts are given.
Raw whole cow's milkNot heat-treated[fao-tmp]
Sugar13 % of the milk[fao-tmp]
Starterspontaneous (natural fermentation, no heat treatment)

Total time across the steps of Leche agria (Nicaraguan sour milk): 25 h – 35 h

Start
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65–70 °C

What changes: The milk is held hot to kill its own bacteria

Step 1 of 4 · steps of Leche agria (Nicaraguan sour milk)
Heat-treat the milk
Time
30 min
Reported
Temperature
65–70 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: heat-treated milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

heat kills most of the milk's own bacteria

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Boruga is a sweetened sour milk from the Dominican Republic. Raw whole cow's milk is left unheated to sour on its own, then sugar is added at 13 % of the milk. It is a yellowish, lumpy, semi-fluid drink sold in plastic containers.

What makes this one different

Boruga is soured from raw whole milk and then sweetened heavily (13 % sugar), and it is made without heating, unlike Nicaraguan leche agria, whose milk is heat-treated first.

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw, unheated milk with a spontaneous fermentation; FAO gives a keeping time of up to 10 days at 4 °C. Raw milk can carry E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Campylobacter jejuni and Listeria monocytogenes, and the FDA says children are more vulnerable to these pathogens. The FDA says pasteurisation effectively kills raw milk pathogens. This method relies on the raw milk's own bacteria, and no source we read tests it with pasteurised milk.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

FAO 1990 records boruga as a popular household drink of the Dominican Republic's cattle areas.

  1. [fao-tmp] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, section II.3.1 (Boruga, Dominican Republic)gov
  2. [fda-raw-milk] US Food and Drug Administration, Raw Milk Misconceptions and the Danger of Raw Milk Consumptiongov