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Fermented milk from Rwanda

Ikivugutoikivuguto

Ikivuguto is Rwanda's sour milk. Fresh milk is poured into a wooden jar (icyansi), covered with a woven lid and left in a warm, clean place for at least two to three days until it sets. Karenzi's team found Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc strains responsible for the souring in two samples. In larger gourds it is churned into butter and buttermilk.

Fully documentedFermented milk26 h

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHousehold practice; Karenzi's description gives times and temperatures, not amounts.
Cow milkUsually raw; sometimes boiled and cooled first[karenzi2015]
Ikivuguto from an earlier batchSometimes added in small quantity as a starter[karenzi2015]
Starterspontaneous | backslop

Total time across the recorded steps: 26 h

Start
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What changes: The vessel is held over smoke and wiped, again and again, until smooth inside

Step 1 of 4
Smoke the vessel (eastern Rwanda)
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Leuconostocs

Output: smoked, smooth vessel.

Flavour
smoky
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

smoking leaves the containers clean, with very few pathogens affecting the texture of the curd

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

Ikivuguto is Rwanda's sour milk. Fresh milk is poured into a wooden jar (icyansi), covered with a woven lid and left in a warm, clean place for at least two to three days until it sets. Karenzi's team found Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc strains responsible for the souring in two samples. In larger gourds it is churned into butter and buttermilk. Made in 4 steps over 26 h. The longest step, pour the milk into the jar and leave it covered, takes at least 24 h (Karenzi E. 2015). Lactococcus lactis (strain CWBI-B1466), which reaches pH 4.6 in 8 h and Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides (CWBI-B1470), which reaches pH 4.6 in 14 h do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 24 hReported[karenzi2015]Pour the milk into the jar and leave it covered
AciditypH 4.6Reported[karenzi2015]Pour the milk into the jar and leave it covered

What makes this one different

Karenzi finds the fermented milk most similar to ikivuguto in consistency and flavour is Swedish filmjölk, which also holds Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides. In eastern Rwanda the vessels are smoked with burning grass stems or Combretum molle, and the milk then smells and tastes of smoke.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Urubu (Burundi)A similar traditional fermented milk of Burundi.

Safety

In traditional ikivuguto the lactic flora lives alongside a pathogenic flora, which varies with the hygiene of the people who make it. Smoking the vessels leaves them clean, with few pathogens. Karenzi reports that kivuguto made with the three selected strains kept well for up to 36 days at 4 °C.

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. [karenzi2015] Karenzi E. 2015, Fermentation du kivuguto, lait traditionnel du Rwanda, mise au point d'un starter lactique, doctoral thesis, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège (chapter I, an overview of kivuguto technology, and chapters on the starter strains)paper
  2. [afr26] Nodem Sohanang F.S. et al. 2026, Unlocking the microbial potential of traditional African fermented milk products, a systematic review, Frontiers in Food Science and Technology 6paper
  3. [fao-tmp-ii] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, section II "Acidified milks", group 1.1gov