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Cereals and bread from Latvia, mostly the west

Skābputra (Latvian sour barley porridge)skābputra

Barley groats are cooked in water, curdled milk is stirred in, and the porridge is kept warm until it turns sour. It is served with sour cream or butter, or as a side dish.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Skābputra itself.

Short entryCereals and bread

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceHousehold amounts from one recipe page; there is no standard or tested recipe.
Water1 litre[yah-skabputra]
Barley groats1/2 cup[yah-skabputra]
Curdled milk1/2 litreHalf goes into the hot porridge, the rest after it cools[yah-skabputra]
Sour cream, to serve5 tablespoons[yah-skabputra]
Startercurdled milk stirred into the cooked barley
Start
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What changes: Barley groats simmer in water until soft

Step 1 of 3
Cook the barley in water without salt
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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

Barley groats are cooked in water, curdled milk is stirred in, and the porridge is kept warm until it turns sour. It is served with sour cream or butter, or as a side dish.

What makes this one different

The souring comes from curdled milk stirred into cooked barley, not from a grain starter as in kvass or żur.

Related ferments

Safety

The recipe leaves the cooked porridge in a warm place until it sours. The CDC says bacteria multiply rapidly between 40 °F and 140 °F (4 °C and 60 °C), and that perishable food should not be left out for more than 2 hours.

History and sources

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

A recipe blog calls skābputra one of the oldest culinary customs in Latvia, prepared since ancient times and eaten mostly in the west.

  1. [yah-skabputra] Yogurt at Home blog (NPSelection) 2019, Fermented milk products from all over the world, Skābputra (Latvia) (recipe page)web
  2. [cdc-food-safety] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Food Poisoninggov