Smetana is the English-language name for the different types of

sour cream Sour cream (sometimes known as soured cream in British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, which is introduced either deliberately or naturall ...

traditionally prevalent in Central, Eastern, and

Southeastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...

, and

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. It is a

dairy product Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

produced by souring heavy cream. It is similar to '' crème fraîche'', but nowadays mainly sold with 9% to 42% milkfat content depending on the country. Its cooking properties are different from ''crème fraîche'' and the lighter

s sold in the US, which contain 12 to 16% butterfat. It is widely used in cooking and baking. In some of the Slavic languages (

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

, Slovak, Slovenian) the sole word smetana refers to (sweet) cream. In these cases an adjective (zakysaná, kyslá, kisla) meaning 'soured' is needed when referring to smetana in the English sense.

Uses and distribution

Smetana is used in Central, Southeastern, and Eastern European

cuisine A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, List of cooking techniques, techniques and Dish (food), dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, ...

s in appetizers, main courses, soups and desserts. For example, it may be blended with soups, vegetable salads, cole slaw, and meat dishes. It is served with dumplings ('' pelmeni'', ''

pierogi Pierogi ( ; ) are filled dumplings made by wrapping Leavening, unleavened dough around a Stuffing, filling and cooked in boiling water. They are occasionally flavored with a savory or sweet garnish. Typical fillings include potato, cheese, ...

'', '' varenyky''), or with pancakes ('' bliny'', '' palacsinta'', '' naleśniki'', ''

oladyi Oladyi ( pl., diminutive: оладушки, ''oladushki'', sg. оладья, ''oladya'' , , ''oladky'') are small thick pancakes or fritters common in Russian and Ukrainian cuisines. The batter for oladyi is made from wheat or (nowadays more ...

'', ''

syrniki Syrniki (; ; ) are fried Eastern Slavic quark (curd cheese) pancakes. They are a part of Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, Latvian (''biezpiena plācenīši'') and Lithuanian cuisine (''varškėčiai''). In Russia, they are also known as tvoro ...

''). It is also used as a filling in savoury pancakes. Smetana can be blended to a Liptauer-like cheese spread with

quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei ...

or cottage cheese, onions, paprika and other spices, and eaten with bread. Smetana is often used in cooking, as it is high enough in fat not to curdle at higher temperatures. It is used in the preparation of meat stews, such as beef Stroganoff, vegetable stews,

casserole A casserole (French language, French: diminutive of , from Provençal dialect, Provençal , meaning 'saucepan') is a kind of large, deep cookware and bakeware, pan or bowl used for cooking a variety of dishes in the oven; it is also a categor ...

s, or other dishes that require a long cooking time in the oven. Smetana does not melt in the oven. Hungarian cooks use it as an ingredient in

sauces In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi- solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavour, texture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...

such as '' paprikas'', and in recipes such as '' palacsinta'' (crepes) filled with ham or minced meat ('' hortobágyi palacsinta''). A similar use is common in Eastern European Jewish cuisines, except that smetana is not used with meat dishes due to the Jewish dietary prohibition of mixing dairy products with meat. The current trend toward reduced fat content is believed to have resulted in an inferior product. To imitate Hungarian-style cooking and the use of smetana (called ''tejföl'' in Hungarian), Hungarian cookbooks recommend using Western sour cream mixed with heavy whipping cream (38–40% milkfat). Unlike sour cream mixed with whipping cream, smetana is not homogenized. Pelmeni Russian

In Central European countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland, smetana may refer to sweet cream or soured cream. It should contain at least 10% fat. Smetana that has at least 30% fat is called ''smetana ke šlehání'' (whipping cream) and is used for the production of ''šlehačka'' (

whipped cream Whipped cream, also known as Chantilly cream or (), is high-fat dairy cream that has been aerated by whisking until it becomes light, fluffy, and capable of holding its shape. This process incorporates air into the cream, creating a semi-soli ...

). In Ukrainian, Belarusian and

Russian cuisine Russian cuisine is a collection of the different dishes and cooking traditions of the Russians, Russian people as well as a list of culinary products popular in Russia, with most names being known since pre-Soviet times, coming from all kinds ...

s, sour cream is often added to

borscht Borscht () is a sour soup, made with meat stock, vegetables and seasonings, common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In English, the word ''borscht'' is most often associated with the soup's variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red b ...

and other soups, and is used as a salad dressing and as a

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to enhance the Flavoring, flavour, to complement the dish or to impart a specific flavor. Such specific flavors generally add sweetness or pungency, or sharp or piquant ...

for dumplings, such as '' varenyky'' and '' pelmeni''. In

Polish cuisine Polish cuisine ( ) is a style of food preparation originating in and widely popular in Poland. Due to History of Poland, Poland's history, Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to be very eclectic, and shares many similarities with other ...

smetana can be added to traditional ''

'' dumplings. It is also used in gravies served with Bohemian (Czech) cuisine, such as marinated beef

svíčková Svíčková, or svíčková na smetaně (pronounced �sviːt͡ʃkɔvaː na smɛ.ta.ɲɛ, is a Czech meat dish and one of the most popular Czech and Slovak meals. Svíčková is the Czech word for tenderloin, but this dish is traditionally ...

. In

Slovak cuisine Slovak cuisine varies slightly from region to region across Slovakia. It was influenced by the traditional cuisines, cuisine of its neighbours and it influenced them as well. The origins of traditional Slovak cuisine can be traced to times when ...

, smotana (cognate of smetana) is often incorporated into Bryndzové halušky and

Pierogi Pierogi ( ; ) are filled dumplings made by wrapping Leavening, unleavened dough around a Stuffing, filling and cooked in boiling water. They are occasionally flavored with a savory or sweet garnish. Typical fillings include potato, cheese, ...

. ''Schmand mit Glumse'' (whipped cream with

) is used in Prussian and other Germanic cuisines in savory dishes and also for cakes called ''Schmandkuchen'' and desserts. :de:Schmand A German medical book published in 1677 recommended ''Schmant'' or ''Milchraam'' as the best part of the milk. Schmand is the cream of the milk, or the foam that rises up like the foam on beer. Schmand or Schmant also describes other fatty foamy material and is known as a byproduct of mining (''Grubenschmant''), for example in vitriol development. The Central European name for fattier varieties of smetana, ''mileram'', is probably a variation of the earlier Bavarian name for the product, ''Millirahm'', meaning "milk cream". When comparing brands or suppliers of smetana, the Polish and Russian practice is to compare the fat content of the varieties. Fat content can range from 10% (runny) to 70% (thick). The most common supermarket smetana is 10% to 40% fat (milk fat only for an authentic product). Thickeners such as gelatine or starch may be added, although this is often considered to be adulteration and may make such smetana unsuitable for many culinary uses.

Etymology

The word "smetana" comes from the common Slavic " sъmętana", in turn from the verb "sъmětati" – to remove, to dump. Under this name, this product has spread in most languages: in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

(смета́на, "''smetana''"),

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

(смета́на, "''smetana''"),

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

(смята́на, "''smyatana'' / ''śmiatana''"),

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

("''smetana''" and "''crème fraîche''"), German ("''saure sahne''" and "s''chmand''"), Slovenian ("''kisla smetana''"), Polish ("''śmietana''"), Bulgarian (заквасена сметана, "''zakvasena smetana''"), Slovak ("''smotana''"), Czech ("''zakysaná smetana''"), and Romanian ("''smântână''"). In Finland, the name "smetana" is used only for a product with a high fat content (30% or more), while ordinary smetana is called "''hapankerma''" ("sour cream").

''Smântână''

''Smântână'' is a Romanian

that is produced by separating the milk fat through decantation and retaining the

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

. It will not curdle when cooked or if added to hot dishes. ''Smântână'''s taste is tangy and sweet; soured ''smântână'' is considered spoiled. The word is a

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

with Slavic ''smetana'' (Czech: "cream", Russian: "sour cream"). ''Smântână'' is widely used in

Romanian cuisine Romanian cuisine () is a diverse blend of different dishes from several traditions with which it has come into contact, but it also maintains its own character. It has been influenced mainly by Ottoman cuisine, Ottoman and Turkish cuisine but a ...

, particularly in appetizers, main courses, soups and desserts. It is often added to '' ciorbă'' and other soups, and is used as a

for '' mămăligă'' and dishes like sarmale.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smetana (Dairy Product) Fermented dairy products Pavlaka Croatian cuisine Czech cuisine Slovak cuisine Hungarian cuisine Montenegrin cuisine Russian cuisine Serbian cuisine Lithuanian cuisine Slavic cuisine Romanian sauces Slovenian cuisine Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine Bulgarian cuisine ro:Smântână

Uses and distribution

Etymology

''Smântână''

See also

References

External links