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Cheese from Indonesia, North Sumatra

Dali ni horbobagot ni horbo

Buffalo milk is boiled and curdled with the juice of pineapple or of papaya leaves, whose enzymes set a soft, greenish-white curd that is lifted from the whey. It is a boundary entry, because the juice and heat set the curd, while studies also describe protein-degrading microbes and lactic acid bacteria in the product. In a lab version, 300 ml of buffalo milk with 12 ml of pineapple juice was held 50 minutes at 60 °C.

Recipe

Dali ni horbo, a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Televisi https://www.youtube.com/c/EfarinaTelevisi%7CEfarina Televisi, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Amounts from a sourceAmounts from a lab study at Universitas HKBP Nommensen, Medan, for 300 ml of buffalo milk. The sources give no amounts for the traditional method.
Buffalo milk[arrazy2024][pardosi2024]
Pineapple juice12 ml per 300 ml of milk (4%) in a lab versionOr papaya-leaf juice, 6 ml per 300 ml (2%) in the same study[pardosi2024][arrazy2024]
Starternone added; plant enzymes (bromelain in pineapple, papain in papaya leaf) set the curd, and the sources describe lactic acid bacteria in the product

Total time across the recorded steps: 50 min

Start
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What changes: Buffalo milk is heated in a pot

Step 1 of 4
Heat the buffalo milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

In the tradition the milk is brought to the boil.

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

Buffalo milk is boiled and curdled with the juice of pineapple or of papaya leaves, whose enzymes set a soft, greenish-white curd that is lifted from the whey. It is a boundary entry, because the juice and heat set the curd, while studies also describe protein-degrading microbes and lactic acid bacteria in the product. In a lab version, 300 ml of buffalo milk with 12 ml of pineapple juice was held 50 minutes at 60 °C. Made in 4 steps over 50 min. The longest step, hold warm until the curd sets, takes 50 min (Pardosi U. 2024) and runs at 60 °C (Pardosi U. 2024). Lactic acid bacteria, among them Pediococcus acidilactici and Active Lactobacillus and protein-degrading microbes, which a 2024 study says are present and active during fermentation of the product do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step50 minReported[pardosi2024]Hold warm until the curd sets
Temperature60 °CReported[pardosi2024]Hold warm until the curd sets

What makes this one different

A Batak buffalo-milk curd set by boiling the milk and adding pineapple or papaya-leaf juice. Studies also report lactic acid bacteria in it.

Boundary
The curd is set by plant enzymes (bromelain or papain) and heat; the sources also describe lactic acid bacteria and protein-degrading microbes in the product

Related ferments

Safety

In the tradition the milk is brought to the boil before the juice goes in.

History and sources

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

Arrazy and colleagues write that buffalo farming is deeply ingrained in Batak Toba culture and that the animals serve symbolic purposes and plough rice fields. They say dali ni horbo is traded in Tapanuli markets and often served at special events and celebrations.

  1. [arrazy2024] Arrazy S., Khairunnisa, Siregar P.A., Nuzlan D.N.R., Suraya R. 2024, Milk production in dairy buffalo and the development of "dali ni horbo" as a nutrient-rich local food for the Batak Toba community, Contagion (Scientific Periodical of Public Health and Coastal Health) 6(2):1597–1607paper
  2. [pardosi2024] Pardosi U. 2024, Pengaruh jenis koagulan yang berbeda terhadap uji organoleptik dadih susu kerbau (Effect of different coagulants on the sensory test of buffalo-milk curd), Journal of Animal Science (JAS, Universitas Timor) 9(1):7–10paper
  3. [wp] Wikipedia, 'Dali ni horbo'wiki
  4. [fachrial2023] Fachrial E., Anggraini S., Harmileni, Saryono, Nugroho T.T. 2023, Inhibitor a-glucosidase activity of Pediococcus acidilactici DNH16 isolated from Dali ni Horbo, a traditional food from North Sumatra, Indonesia, Biodiversitas 24(2):958–965 (abstract)paper