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Fermented milk from Lithuania, Samogitia

Žemaitiškas kastinys

Žemaitiškas kastinys is a traditional Lithuanian product of sour cream, a little sour milk and butter that ends as a stiff cream. The cream mix is warmed to 25–30 °C and stirred into softened butter an eighth at a time, always in one direction, without the buttermilk separating. The specification describes no souring step; the cream and milk are already soured when they go in.

Fully documentedFermented milkTSG application (EC No LT-TSG-0007-0910-11.11.2011; OJ C 237, 15.8.2013)

Recipe

Žemaitiškas kastinys, a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Bdx, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Amounts from a sourceAmounts are per 100 kg of finished kastinys, as fixed by the TSG specification. A 1983 home recipe in the same file uses ½ litre of sour cream, 1 spoon of butter, ½ teaspoon of caraway and salt.
Sour cream, 25–30 % fat80–83 kg per 100 kg of product[tsg2013]
Butter, at least 82 % fat6–7 kg per 100 kg[tsg2013]
Sour milk, 2.5–4 % fat5–5.5 kg per 100 kg[tsg2013]
Salt1–1.5 kg per 100 kg[tsg2013]
Herbs and spices (black pepper, allspice, caraway, dill, mint, or a mix)0.1–0.15 kg per 100 kgOptional[tsg2013]
Garlic or onion, chopped1–2 kg per 100 kgOptional[tsg2013]
Start
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What changes: Starting material: sour cream, sour milk and butter, weighed to the recipe

Step 1 of 7
Weigh out the ingredients
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: sour cream, sour milk, butter, salt and seasonings, weighed to the recipe.

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

Žemaitiškas kastinys is a traditional Lithuanian product of sour cream, a little sour milk and butter that ends as a stiff cream. The cream mix is warmed to 25–30 °C and stirred into softened butter an eighth at a time, always in one direction, without the buttermilk separating. The specification describes no souring step; the cream and milk are already soured when they go in. Salt is 1–1.5 % (Publication of an application for a TSG 2011).

Key numbers
Temperature25–30 °CSet[tsg2013]Warm the cream mix and soften the butter
Salt1–1.5 %Set[tsg2013]Salt and season

What makes this one different

Other kastinys are beaten, may use kefir or only sour milk, and get the cream in three or four goes or all at once. Žemaitiškas kastinys is stirred slowly in one direction, an eighth of the cream at a time at 25–30 °C, so the buttermilk never separates.

Composition
Fat 25–30 % depending on the recipe; salt 1–1.5 %
Boundary
Made from sour cream, sour milk and butter that are already soured; the specification describes no fermentation step
Storage
A commercial 200 g pack of 30 % fat is labelled for 0–6 °C

Related ferments

Variants

  • SeasonedWith caraway, black pepper, allspice, dill or mint, and garlic or onion.

Safety

Keep it cold; it is cooled to 6 °C after packing, and a commercial pack is labelled for storage at 0–6 °C.

History and sources

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

The TSG application says the product was described in mid-19th-century academic publications (Jucewicz, Vilnius, 1846; Potocki, Poznań, 1869), and names it in recipe books of 1927, 1935 and 1983. It also cites accounts kept by the National Museum of Lithuania that describe stirring cream and butter in a heated clay bowl with a wooden spoon, always the same way.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [tsg2013] Publication of an application for a TSG, 'Žemaitiškas kastinys', EC No LT-TSG-0007-0910-11.11.2011, Official Journal of the European Union C 237, 15.8.2013, pp. 40–43 (2013/C 237/08), copy hosted by GOV.UKspec
  2. [zpienas] Žemaitijos pienas, product page 'Kastinys 30 %' (200 g)web
  3. [tv3recipe] Receptas. Žemaitiškas kastinys, tv3.lt, 19 Feb 2022 (home recipe, source given as Gaspadine.lt)web