This week I have tried Kefir for the first time. I bought Polish ‘Kefir Naturalny made by Milko’ in Dominik’s, a Polish deli on High Street, Walthamstow (opposite Lidl). It says on the kefir carton that it is 1.5% fat, natural pasteurised buttermilk with raw milk bacteria – Lactobacilius Casei, 115 kcal per 250ml.

I’ve never heard of or tried kefir before but I’m always up for experimenting with something new. So a quick internet search revealed that kefir is a cultured, yogurt-like drink filled with natural gut-friendly micro organisms and pro-biotic bacteria. Apparently it can help balance your digestive system and has essential vitamins and minerals. It can be good if you have been taking antibiotics or can help with bloating, stomach ulcers, IBS and so on. It tastes like a slightly sour drinking yogurt, similar to the Turkish Ayran.

So I have also been looking at how it can be used in recipes – the smoothies for breakfast idea seems obvious but sounds good.  But I guess it can be used where yogurt or buttermilk is used. Therefore is could be used as a marinade in chicken tikka to tenderise the meat, poured over muesli, added to pesto to make a creamy pasta sauce, as a starter for making a sourdough bread, instead of coconut milk in a curry sauce, or in a ‘ranch’ style salad dressing. However the idea I am most excited about trying is making a kefir fresh cheese. so that is the next task…