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Fermented milk from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia

Lben / leben (Maghreb)لبن

Raw milk is left to sour on its own for one to two days into a set curd, rayeb. The rayeb is churned in a goatskin or churn until the butter (zebda) separates, and the sour buttermilk left behind, often thinned with a little water, is lben.

Fully documentedFermented milk25 h – 3 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceHousehold lben has no fixed batch size; FAO gives only the added water.
Raw whole milk, not heat-treated[fao-tmp]
Water, added to the buttermilkAbout 10 %[fao-tmp]
No starterAcidification comes from the natural flora of the milk[fao-tmp]
Starterspontaneous (backslopping is used in some places)

Total time across the recorded steps: 25 h – 3 days

Start
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shapes, not to countLeuconostocsMilk sugarLactic acid

What changes: Raw milk sours on its own into a set curd, rayeb

Step 1 of 4
Let the raw milk sour into rayeb
Time
24 h – 3 days
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Leuconostocs
Lactococcus lactis
L. mesenteroides
Enterococcus faecalis

If the weather is cold, the vessel is warmed before the milk goes in and kept warm until the milk sets (FAO). Output: rayeb.

Flavour
sour
Texture
set curd
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

the natural flora of the milk, including lactococci and leuconostocs, sour it

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 milk is left to sour on its own for one to two days into a set curd, rayeb. The rayeb is churned in a goatskin or churn until the butter (zebda) separates, and the sour buttermilk left behind, often thinned with a little water, is lben. Made in 4 steps over 25 h – 3 days. The longest step, let the raw milk sour into rayeb, takes 24 h – 3 days (FAO 1990). Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and biovar diacetylactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step24 h – 3 daysReported[fao-tmp][sohanang2026]Let the raw milk sour into rayeb
AciditypH 4.1–4.4Measured[ariri2023]Thin with water and serve

What makes this one different

Lben is made from raw milk that sours on its own and is then churned; the drink is the buttermilk, not the soured milk itself. Rayeb is the same milk eaten set, before churning.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Rayeb (raïb)Eaten as set curd before churning.
  • Raibb (Tunisia)Raw cow milk acidified on its own in 24 hours; fat 36 % of dry matter.

Safety

Lben is made from raw, unheated milk. In a survey of street-sold lben in El Jadida, Morocco, 70 % of 30 samples failed the Moroccan microbiological rules. FAO (1990) reports lben kept at room temperature for up to 3 days, while the CDC's raw-milk page says never to leave perishable food out for more than 2 hours. The CDC also says raw milk and products made from it can carry germs such as Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria, Brucella and Salmonella, and that children under 5, adults over 65, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of serious illness.

History and sources

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

FAO names Turkey as the area of origin of leben and says its manufacture spread over the Mediterranean countries from the Middle East during the Ottoman dominion. It gives Morocco as the area of production, all over the country. Reviews of African fermented milks list lben from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

  1. [fao-tmp] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85 (leben, Morocco; raibb, Tunisia)gov
  2. [sohanang2026] Nodem Sohanang F.S., Nganou D.N., Beka R.G. et al. 2026, Unlocking the microbial potential of traditional African fermented milk products, a systematic review, Frontiers in Food Science and Technologypaper
  3. [gardoul2025] Gardoul M., Mbarki A., Ajdig M. et al. 2025, Unveiling the technological and biopreservative potential of wild lactic acid bacteria from Moroccan traditional dairy products, Brazilian Journal of Microbiologypaper
  4. [alebidi2026] Alebidi S., Mallek H., Fragasso M. et al. 2026, Exploring the diversity and applications of lactic acid bacteria from Tunisian traditional fermented foods, Microorganisms 14(2):383paper
  5. [ariri2023] Ariri N., Aboukhassib H., Echarrafi N. et al. 2023, Evaluation of the physicochemical and hygienic quality of cow's milk and its derivatives in El Jadida city, Morocco, Roczniki Państwowego Zakładu Higienypaper
  6. [cdc-rawmilk] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Raw Milkgov