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Fermented milk from Colombian Caribbean coast

Suero costeñosuero costeño

Raw cow milk is left open to sour on its own for about a day in the hot Caribbean lowlands; the cream rises and the curd sheds whey. Cream and curd are mixed back together, salted into a thick, sour, salty spread.

Fully documentedFermented milk18 h – 24 h

Recipe

Suero costeño, a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Jdvillalobos, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
No fixed amounts recordedHousehold and small-farm practice with no fixed amounts in the sources.
Raw cow milk[simanca2010][munoz2025]
SaltGives the finished product about 2.34 % chlorides[simanca2010]
Starterspontaneous (open, aerobic souring)

Total time across the recorded steps: 18 h – 24 h

Start
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shapes, not to countLactococcus lactisS. infantariusL. plantarumEnterococcus faecium28 °CpH 6.6 → 4.69Milk proteinGel (curd)

What changes: Raw milk sours on its own in an open vessel and the cream rises

Step 1 of 5
Leave raw milk to sour in an open vessel
Time
18–24 h
Measured
Temperature
28 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 6.6 → 4.69
Measured
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis
S. infantarius
L. plantarum
Enterococcus faecium
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: soured milk with a cream layer and whey.

Flavour
sour
Texture
curd with cream on top
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

lactose falls to 4.44 %; aerobic mesophiles reach 2×10^9 CFU/mL

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 milk is left open to sour on its own for about a day in the hot Caribbean lowlands; the cream rises and the curd sheds whey. Cream and curd are mixed back together, salted into a thick, sour, salty spread. Made in 5 steps over 18 h – 24 h. The longest step, leave raw milk to sour in an open vessel, takes 18–24 h (Simanca S.M. et al. 2010) and runs at 28 °C (Simanca S.M. et al. 2010). Salt is 2.3 % (Simanca S.M. et al. 2010). Lactococcus lactis, Streptococcus infantarius and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Enterococcus faecium and Levilactobacillus brevis do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step18–24 hMeasured[simanca2010]Leave raw milk to sour in an open vessel
Temperature28 °CReported[simanca2010]Leave raw milk to sour in an open vessel
Salt2.3 %Measured[simanca2010]Salt the mixture
AciditypH 3.6–5.8Reported[simanca2010][munoz2025]Salt the mixture

What makes this one different

Unlike sour cream made with a starter, suero costeño sours by itself in open air at tropical heat, and the cream is mixed back into the curd with salt.

Related ferments

Variants

  • High-fat sueroMade only from the cream skimmed off, with some curd.
  • Medium-fat sueroCream added back to the curd after the whey drains (the common Montería type).
  • Whey-based sueroMade from cooked whey left from cheesemaking, with salting whey or bought cream.
  • Three-day sueroMilk fat left to ferment spontaneously for three days.

Safety

Made from raw milk with no starter, left open at tropical heat. Reported pH values run from 3.6 to 5.8, so acidity varies widely between batches and cannot be counted on. The CDC says products made from raw milk can expose people to germs such as Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli and Brucella, and that children under 5, adults over 65, pregnant women and people with weak immunity are at higher risk of serious illness. Pasteurising removes these germs. Simanca et al. write that the acid keeps spoilage and disease bacteria from growing, but the studies read here did not test for these germs, so they do not show that this souring removes them.

History and sources

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

Described as gastronomic heritage of northern Colombia and proposed for a regional identity designation (Muñoz-Acevedo et al. 2025).

  1. [simanca2010] Simanca S.M. et al. 2010, Caracterización y estudio de la fermentación espontánea del suero costeño producido en Montería, Revista MVZ Córdoba 15(1):1944–1953paper
  2. [munoz2025] Muñoz-Acevedo A. et al. 2025, Chemical profiles of the volatilome and fatty acids of 'Suero Costeño', Molecules 30(12):2524paper
  3. [valencia2018] Valencia-García F.E. et al. 2018, Kinetic parameters of lactic acid bacteria isolated from fermented milk Suero Costeño, DYNA 85(206):155–161paper
  4. [cdc-raw-milk] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Raw milkgov