Smetana (dairy product)

Smetana is a Russian loanword in English for a dairy product, that is produced by souring heavy cream. Other terms for this food are: Smotana, Shmetana, Schmetten, Schmand, Smântâna, Skabs krejums, Kisla smetana, kysaná smetana, Mietana, Ggrietin, Hapukoor, Tejföl, Pavlaka and Vrhnje. Smetana is from the Central and Eastern Europe, a soured cream product like the crème fraîche (28%), but much heavier and thicker with usually 36% to 42 % milkfat or higher. It will not curdle when cooked or added to hot dishes. Its cooking properties are different from creme fraiche and the lighter sour creams sold in the U.S., which contain 12 to 16 percent butterfat.

Countries

The Smetana is called Smetana in Russian, Finnish, Belarusian and Ukrainian (written сметана in the Cyrillic alphabet), Schmetten or Schmand in German, Kisla smetana in Slovenian, śmietana in Polish, Shmetana in Yiddish kysaná smetana in Bulgarian and Smotana in Slovak.

In Hungarian it is called Tejföl or Tejfel and in Romanian Smântână, in Estonian Hapukoor in Lithuanian Grietinė, in Latvian Skābs krējums, in Serbian and Macedonian Pavlaka or Mileram, in Bosnian Povlaka and in Croatian vrhnje.

The Product

Smetana is widely used in many Eastern European cuisines, for example, blended into local soups, vegetable and meat dishes, Cole Slaw, served with dumplings, Pierogi or as a filling in savoury pancakes. Smetana can be blended to a Liptauer-like cheese spread with local cottage cheeses, onions, paprika and other spices, eaten with bread. It is often used in cooking, as it is high enough in fat not to curdle at higher temperatures. It is used in the preparation of meat or vegetable stews and casseroles. Smetana doesn't melt in the oven and it doesn't soak the whole dish like creme fraiche. Hungarian cooks use it as an ingredient in sauces and in recipes such as ham-filled crepes. The current trend to reduce fat content of the milk products has caused the taste and consistency of many milk products to deteriorate. To imitate Hungarian style cooking and the use of Smetana (called Tejföl in Hungarian), Hungarian cookbooks recommend using Western sour cream mixed with heavy whipping cream (38–40% milkfat). Homogenization breaks the fat into smaller sizes. Smetana is not homogenized.

In Ukrainian and Russian cuisine, sour cream is often added to borscht and other soups, and is used as a condiment for dumplings like vareniki and pelmeni. Almost all Croatian dairies produce smetana, but connoisseurs hold that only that purchased from a milkmaid selling her own products, often at a farmers' market, is the real item. Eurosceptics feel that local products would disappear under the European standardization (BBC News article).

When comparing brands or suppliers of smetana, the Polish and Russian practice is to compare the fat content of the varieties. Fat content can range from 10% (runny) to 70% (thick). The most common supermarket smetanas are 12%, 18%, 30% and 36%. Addition of thickeners such as gelatine is not forbidden by relevant regulations, but is regarded as cheating and the product is considered substandard and unsuitable for culinary use, since some recipes are easily spoiled by the presence of a thickener.

Se also

Kajmak

References