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Fermented milk from Ethiopia

Kibe / qibe (Ethiopian sour-milk butter)ቅቤ (kibe, qibe)

Kibe is Ethiopian butter churned from ergo, milk collected over several days and soured in a smoked clay pot. It is a boundary entry, since the ferment is the sour milk; churning, and melting the butter with spices into niter kibe, are not fermentation. About 19 L of milk makes 1 kg of butter.

Fully documentedFermented milk2 days – 7 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceSurvey figures from North Shoa, Oromia; amounts vary widely from household to household.
Cow milk, soured into ergoAbout 19 L (average) for 1 kg of butterThe most usual amounts churned at a time are 5, 6 or 7 L[diriba2023]
WaterAdded to the sour milk before churning by nearly all households[diriba2023]
Bishop's weed and cardamomClarifying agents added when the butter is boiled into niter kibe[fao-tmp-iii]
Starterspontaneous (fresh milk added onto milk that is already souring)

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 days – 7 days

Start
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What changes: Milk equipment is smoked with burning Olea africana wood

Step 1 of 5
Smoke the vessels with Olea africana
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: smoked vessel.

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

Kibe is Ethiopian butter churned from ergo, milk collected over several days and soured in a smoked clay pot. It is a boundary entry, since the ferment is the sour milk; churning, and melting the butter with spices into niter kibe, are not fermentation. About 19 L of milk makes 1 kg of butter. Made in 5 steps over 2 days – 7 days. The longest step, collect milk and let it sour into ergo, takes 2–7 days (Diriba A 2023). In ergo, the soured milk that kibe is churned from, lactic acid bacteria are dominant, followed by yeasts and moulds does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–7 daysReported[diriba2023]Collect milk and let it sour into ergo
Temperature110–120 °CReported[fao-tmp-iii]Melt with spices into niter kibe (optional)

What makes this one different

Kibe is churned from naturally soured whole milk, not from sweet cream, so it is a cultured butter. Clarified with spices it becomes niter kibe.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Niter kibe (spiced ghee)Fresh kibe melted with spices and herbs; the heating stage is not a fermentation.
  • Cream-and-sour-milk butterSome farmers who sell raw milk churn cream skimmed from milk left overnight, alone or mixed with sour milk.

Safety

Butter from open markets in North Shoa did not meet the national standard for microbial quality; samples carried coliforms, S. aureus, Listeria monocytogenes and yeasts and moulds. Melting the butter into niter kibe heats it to 110–120 °C (FAO), but fresh kibe has no heat step.

Hazards the sources name: Coliforms, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes in open-market butter.

History and sources

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

History
The sources we found do not record its history.
  1. [diriba2023] Diriba A., Eshetu M., Hailu Y. 2023, Production practice, microbial quality and consumer acceptability test of traditionally produced butter in North Shoa Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia, Heliyon 9(6):e17510paper
  2. [karssa2024] Karssa T.H., Kussaga J.B., Semedo-Lemsaddek T., Mugula J.K. 2024, Insights on the microbiology of Ethiopian fermented milk products, a review, Food Science & Nutrition 12(10):6990–7003paper
  3. [fao-tmp-iii] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, section III "Butter and milk fat products", butter and clarified buttergov