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Fermented milk from Brazil

Coalhadacoalhada

Coalhada is the Brazilian set soured milk. Brazil's fermented-milk regulation defines it as milk soured by mesophilic lactic acid bacteria to 0.6–2.0 % acidity, with no heating after fermentation. An Embrapa extension method pasteurises the milk, seeds it with 5 % culture of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and drains the curd in a cotton bag for coalhada seca.

Fully documentedFermented milk13 h

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts from the Embrapa Caprinos e Ovinos extension method for drained goat-milk coalhada (10 L of milk). Household coalhada is often just milk left to curdle, with no fixed amounts.
Goat's milk, pasteurised10 LThe Embrapa method; Brazilian coalhada is usually cow's milk[embrapa2010]
Lactic culture of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus0.5 L (5 %)50 mL per litre of milk[embrapa2010]
Sugar150 g per kg (15 %)For plain drained coalhada; fruit versions use 100–110 g sugar and 110–200 g fruit pulp per kg[embrapa2010]
Starterdefined culture (5 % in the Embrapa method); artisanal coalhada is set with lemon, sour whey or by standing

Total time across the recorded steps: 13 h

Start
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65 °C

What changes: The milk is held at 65 °C for 30 minutes

Step 1 of 5
Pasteurise the milk
Time
30 min
Reported
Temperature
65 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
S. thermophilus
L. delbrueckii

Output: pasteurised milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

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

Coalhada is the Brazilian set soured milk. Brazil's fermented-milk regulation defines it as milk soured by mesophilic lactic acid bacteria to 0.6–2.0 % acidity, with no heating after fermentation. An Embrapa extension method pasteurises the milk, seeds it with 5 % culture of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and drains the curd in a cotton bag for coalhada seca. Made in 5 steps over 13 h. The longest step, drain in a cotton bag (coalhada seca), takes 12 h (Laguna L.E 2010). Mesophilic lactic acid bacteria, single or mixed cultures and Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step12 hReported[embrapa2010]Drain in a cotton bag (coalhada seca)
Temperature65 °CReported[embrapa2010]Pasteurise the milk

What makes this one different

Coalhada is the Mercosur and Brazilian name for set soured milk made with mesophilic lactic bacteria, where yoghurt uses the thermophilic yoghurt pair; it must not be heated after fermentation.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Coalhada seca (coalhada dessorada)Drained in a cotton bag for about 12 hours into a thick, high-protein curd (7.60–10.87 % protein in the Embrapa fruit versions).
  • Coalhada com frutasDrained coalhada mixed with sugar and tropical fruit pulp such as passion fruit, guava, coconut or soursop.

Safety

The Mercosur regulation requires the milk to be pasteurised, or given an equivalent heat treatment, before fermentation. It forbids heat treatment after fermentation, so the cultures stay alive at 10^6 cfu/g or more. The Embrapa method says to store the product at once at 5 °C and eat it within 10 days at most. Embrapa also says artisanal coalhada is made from raw milk, set with lemon, sour whey or by standing at room temperature, and that home methods often lack control of time and temperature. CDC says raw milk products can carry germs such as Listeria, E. coli and Salmonella.

History and sources

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

Embrapa writes that the origin of coalhada is entangled with that of cheese, estimated from about 8000 BC, when sheep were first domesticated, to about 3000 BC. It also tells a legend of an Arabian merchant whose milk soured in a sheep's-stomach flask. In Brazil, Embrapa says the household method, with raw milk curdled by lemon, acid whey or left standing, follows Portuguese and Spanish traditions. The national technical regulation for fermented milks, Instrução Normativa 46 of 23 October 2007, defines coalhada.

  1. [mapa46] Brazil, Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento, Instrução Normativa nº 46 de 23/10/2007, Regulamento Técnico de Identidade e Qualidade de Leites Fermentados (DOU 24/10/2007), sections 2.1.5, 4.2.2–4.2.4 (text on Normas Brasil)spec
  2. [embrapa2010] Laguna L.E., Egito A.S., Benevides S.D., Santos K.M.O. 2010, Coalhada caprina dessorada adicionada de polpa de frutos tropicais, Comunicado Técnico 116, Embrapa Caprinos e Ovinos, Sobralgov
  3. [cdc-raw-milk] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Raw Milk (31 January 2025)gov
  4. [wp-list] Wikipedia, List of fermented milk products, Brazil: coalhadawiki