h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've spoken about this a while ago. You may know that many if not most native Africans are lactose-intolerant. But they can and do consume a kind of fermented milk called Amasi or Maas. While I am of European heritage and can drink regular milk, I have drunk a lot of fermented milk in my life and always enjoyed it. We called it 'Dikmelk' or 'Thick Milk'. My father used to make some every now and then long ago but it doesn't work with pasteurised milk. So for a long time I didn't drink it, but recently I became aware that they are selling a commercial version in the stores, under the names 'Amasi' or 'Maas'. Well today I tried some! It is just like the 'Dikmelk' that I remember. I drank it straight today and it is tasty enough, but next time I'll try it with a bit of honey or molasses ... we drank it with sugar in the past but I'm staying away from processed sugar these days. Amasi is a great source of protein and calcium, and it compares well with yoghurt ... it is a bit more liquid, though.

In the Wikipedia article there's mention of Nelson Mandela hiding in a 'white' area (per the legally-enforced racial separation of residential areas back then) and then sneaking away when he heard some workers who noticed a bottle of milk left on the windowsill to ferment, noting that white people don't drink Amasi. Well, some of us did in those days! There's certainly been a significant deal of influence and exchange of food and drink stuff between the different cultures here that is not always recognised. Many of the ancestors of us 'Boers' actually had a lot of positive interactions with the locals when they trekked and settled here in the northern regions of South Africa.

Oh, now you've made me jealous again. We just got back from the grocery, and I didn't try to find some drinkable yoghurt stuff (they have some, I think).

Seriously, glad you found it tasty.

Drinkable yoghurt stuff - is that like Yakult? I've not tried it but it was recommended for Fiver, the bantam with digestive problems. She doesn't seem to like it but it does seem to help.

She prefers grass, toads, slugs and Alina Ibragimova's tail feathers. Little rat. Alina looks like a smart car now.

You've got bantams? They are feisty. And the roosters are very, very noisy.

I think this stuff is called Kefir.

What I know as 'Dickmilch' is a very refreshing dish. My mum used to make it in summers. She'd pour milk in bowls, then leave them in the pantry for a while. The milk would thicken, and we had that with Schwarzbrot (dark rye bread) crumbs and sugar. Yummy.
You can manage to make it with pasteurised milk, but the milk must at least contain 3.8 percent fat. It does not work with homogenised milk.

HI again everyone! Waz, Yakult is a Japanese thing and compared to the Maas we have, it has much more carbs and much less protein. Maas is not sweetened. Nutritionally it is very similar to milk but easier to digest. Compared to Yoghurt it is just a little bit more liquid, very similar in nutritional value but cheaper! The taste is a little different, it is more sourish than most yoghurt, but to me quite tasty! Today I had some more, sweetened with molasses ... it tasted great! Tomorrow I'm going to try some with my sorghum porridge.

Dmitri, Kefir is something different, you need specific kefir grains to start the fermentation; over here Maas can be made my just leaving milk for a while as Bel described (I didn't know it can be made with pasteurised milk, Bel! Maybe I'll try it again ...). Locally some people use plant additives to curdle the milk ... I think the juice from Toad Trees for instance can be used. I must go and do some more research ...

The pasteurised milk option isn't as successful, though. Chances are that it'll just go off, so if you can get hold of unpasteurised milk easily you'd best take that. (Although since I've heard that you can get tuberculosis from raw milk, I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole).

I think I'll stick with the stuff I can get in the shop ... it is quite nice!