Milk kefir

Kéfir de lait

What it is

Kefir grains cannot be manufactured — the cauliflower-like clusters of bacteria and yeast are only ever split off an existing colony, so every batch descends from grains carried out of the North Caucasus. The yeasts leave it faintly fizzy and, technically, very slightly alcoholic.

In the kitchen

Never boil it — it splits at once. Whisk it into a cold sauce off the heat, or swap it for buttermilk in a dough: its acid gives the same lift with bicarbonate.

Goes with

Cucumber Dill Mint Beetroot Buckwheat flour Honey Strawberry Garlic

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