creme fraiche

[Guest guest]

At last, summer weather has taken a break and I can make my favorite

cold-weather foods again. I made a leek & potato soup tonight and

added this creme fraiche product instead of cream or whole milk as I

usually would.

Tasting the creme fraiche, it was sort of like sour cream but

lighter in consistency. What is the difference between creme fraiche

and sour cream, process- and ingredient-wise?

The product I bought (at Safeway) was " Alouette Creme Fraiche

Cooking & Topping Cream " which promises an " Authentic French Recipe "

(dubious) and that it is " All Natural. " The ingredients

are: " cultured, pasteurized cream, citric acid & vitamin c to

protect freshness. "

I know creme fraiche is recommended in many NT recipes. Is this

Alouette product the real thing or not?

Thanks for your expert opinions.

LeeAnn

BTW the soup was really, really good, if I do say so myself.

[Guest guest]

>I know creme fraiche is recommended in many NT recipes. Is this

>Alouette product the real thing or not?

>

>Thanks for your expert opinions.

>LeeAnn

I bought some once (I don't recall the brand) and it had *mold*.

So I stick to my kefir-cream ... add some kefir to some cream,

let it set on the counter a day, put in the fridge. Cheap and easy,

and amazingly tasty, and it never molds. I have been told that it

tastes like creme fraiche. Makes good ice cream too.

Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

You can make your own creme fraiche by stirring 3 Tbl. buttermilk into 1

pint cream. Leave in a warm place for 8 to 24 hours until it starts to

thicken. Stir thoroughly and refrigerate. It will keep about 2 weeks, can't

be frozen.

Ada

>I know creme fraiche is recommended in many NT recipes. Is this

>Alouette product the real thing or not?

>

>Thanks for your expert opinions.

>LeeAnn

I bought some once (I don't recall the brand) and it had *mold*.

So I stick to my kefir-cream ... add some kefir to some cream,

let it set on the counter a day, put in the fridge. Cheap and easy,

and amazingly tasty, and it never molds. I have been told that it

tastes like creme fraiche. Makes good ice cream too.

Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

>> The product I bought (at Safeway) was " Alouette Creme Fraiche

> Cooking & Topping Cream " which promises an " Authentic French

Recipe "

> (dubious) and that it is " All Natural. " The ingredients

> are: " cultured, pasteurized cream, citric acid & vitamin c to

> protect freshness. "

>

> I know creme fraiche is recommended in many NT recipes. Is this

> Alouette product the real thing or not?

>

Leanne

No, this isn't the real thing. Creme fresh is a cultured cream - the

ingredients should be cream and the starter culture (in the same way

kefir grains are the starter culture for kefir, the only other

ingredient of which is milk). There should be no citric acid and no

vitamin c. However, proper creme fraiche is delicious - it has a

much higher fat content than ordinary soured cream.

Creme fraich is easy to get hold of in the UK. If you can find a

brand called Isigny ste Mere that is a good brand (although it is

pasteurised)

Jo

[Guest guest]

--- In , Tom Jeanne <t.l.jeanne@g...>

wrote:

> This has probably been covered a million times, sorry. I have some

very thick fresh raw cream and some fresh raw buttermilk. Can I make

the crème fraîche on p. 84 of NT with these ingredients or do I need

specially cultured buttermilk?

Tom,

That's how i would do it. As long as you like the taste of the

buttermilk, I'd guess, heh heh. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

B.