Crème Fraîche
Europe knows dairy.
The sheer number of incredible cheeses in such a small continent is evidence of a deep cultural wisdom. Even the butter, which is cultured into a yeasty, umami-rich, eat-it-by-the-spoonful kind of delicacy, towers above the lumps of bland milk fat Americans have given the same name.
The European dairy section of your local fancy food shop can be an amusement park for adventurous eaters, but the cheaper American analogues of all this fermented milk can - to put it bluntly - spoil a meal.
Here at the Budget Gourmet Kitchen, we have been searching for ways to enjoy the delicious world of European dairy without having to pay the high price accompanying imported food. While we haven’t found a way to transform the American versions of muenster, gouda, and brie into their flavorful European predecessors, we have found a gem that can be perfectly recreated using pasteurized
cream and common American dairy products: crème fraîche.
French for fresh cream, crème fraîche is the result of letting unpasteurized heavy cream sit at room temperature - an act that feels thrilling and naughty the first time you try it. Microbes that occur naturally in cow’s milk will break down parts of the cream; the result is thick and tart, almost yogurt-like in flavor and appearance. Because of its high fat percentage, crème fraîche can be stirred up into a tangy whipped cream, or cooked into sauces without the fear of separation or curdling.
Making Crème Fraîche at Home
The bacteria responsible for the cream’s blossoming into crème fraîche is, unfortunately, destroyed during pasteurization. Luckily, the very same bacteria can be found in buttermilk or sour cream. As long as the buttermilk or sour cream has live cultures, they will convert the heavy cream into crème fraîche if left to sit at room temperature for a day or two.
Add two tablespoons of buttermilk or half a cup of sour cream to each cup of heavy cream. Let sit at room temperature (around 70°F), stirring every 8 hours. Once the cream has thickened to an almost yogurt-like consistency, put it in the fridge where it will further thicken and keep for two weeks.
Tags: crème fraîche, dairy