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Fermented milk from Egypt

Laban rayebلبن رايب

Raw cow or buffalo milk is left undisturbed in a pot until its own bacteria curdle it and the cream rises. The cream is skimmed for butter, and the soured curd below is laban rayeb, eaten as it is or drained into karish cheese.

Fully documentedFermented milk18 h

Recipe

Laban rayeb, a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Mint eggy93, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
No fixed amounts recordedHousehold practice with no fixed amounts. The milk is left in its pot until it curdles.
Raw cow or buffalo milkNothing is added; the milk's own bacteria sour it[afr26][wp]
The milk's own bacteria, with no starter addedWikipedia says the milk is left undisturbed while its natural microflora ferments it[wp]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 18 h

Start
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What changes: A new clay pot is soaked in oil and baked so that its pores close

Step 1 of 4
Prepare the earthenware pot
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Wikipedia, citing Robinson and Tamime (1991), says the inside of a new pot is soaked in oil, or in egg white mixed with oil, and baked in a kiln to close the pores. After each use the pot is washed and dried in a hot oven for two hours. Output: a pot with its pores closed.

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

Raw cow or buffalo milk is left undisturbed in a pot until its own bacteria curdle it and the cream rises. The cream is skimmed for butter, and the soured curd below is laban rayeb, eaten as it is or drained into karish cheese. Made in 4 steps over 18 h. The longest step, leave undisturbed until it curdles, takes 18 h (Samet-Bali O. and Attia H. 2012) and runs at 23–27 °C (Samet-Bali O. and Attia H. 2012). Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, L. helveticus, L. acidophilus, L. cremoris and Lactic cocci isolated from Delta rayeb: Enterococcus faecium, E. durans, E. faecalis, E. hirae, Pediococcus acidilactici and Streptococcus infantarius do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step18 hMeasured[sametbali2012][afr26]Leave undisturbed until it curdles
Temperature23–27 °CMeasured[sametbali2012]Leave undisturbed until it curdles
AciditypH 6.7 → 4.45Measured[sametbali2012]Leave undisturbed until it curdles

What makes this one different

Laban rayeb is left completely still and gets no starter, unlike zabadi yoghurt, which is heated and seeded. Its curd, drained on a reed mat, becomes karish cheese.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Laban khadFermented in a goat pelt.
  • Laban zeerFermented in an earthenware zeer pot; the base for Saidi kishk.
  • Rayeb (Tunisia)Raw cow milk left at about 25 °C for up to 18 h until it gels.

Safety

A raw-milk, uncontrolled ferment. Studies of Egyptian rayeb counted coliforms and Staphylococcus aureus, so hygiene and a full drop in pH matter.

Hazards the sources name: Coliforms and Staphylococcus aureus counted in Egyptian rayeb and laban rayb.

History and sources

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

In Tunisia, Samet-Bali and Attia (2012) describe rayeb as a curdled milk known and appreciated for centuries, now also made industrially, though consumers prefer the traditional product for its fresh taste and aroma.

  1. [afr26] Nodem Sohanang F.S., Nganou D.N., Beka R.G., Sokamte T.A., Tatsadjieu N.L., Mohammadou B.A. 2026, Unlocking the microbial potential of traditional African fermented milk products, a systematic review with quantitative descriptive synthesis of LAB diversity, safety and indigenous starter development perspectives, Frontiers in Food Science and Technology 6:1847264paper
  2. [elsaadany2024] Elsaadany K., El-Sayed A.I.M. and Awad S. 2024, Identification, safety assessment, and antimicrobial characteristics of cocci lactic acid bacteria isolated from traditional Egyptian dairy products, Foods 13(19):3059paper
  3. [sametbali2012] Samet-Bali O. and Attia H. 2012, Characterization of typical Tunisian fermented milk, rayeb, African Journal of Biotechnology 11(25):6744–6749paper
  4. [wp] Wikipedia, Laban rayeb (outline only)wiki