Russian dairy in Pattaya

Russian dairy in Pattaya

Well, why not, eh? We have our Dutch coffee, meatballs, cheese, the Germans buy their German bread and beer here, the English drink their own tea and cider, the French can enjoy their baguette, camembert and wine. the Russians can now buy their own Russian dairy products.

I first saw it in Best Supermarket at the Dolphin roundabout in Pattaya North, where a friendly and nice Russian (they do exist) was stocking the shelves. He had pushed aside the products of Foremost, Dutch Mill and so on to create a small two-foot wide space for Russian yoghurt, sour cream, cottage cheese, white cheese, kefir and ryazhenka. He told me that this was just the beginning and more Russian foodstuffs would soon be on sale.

Now I knew most of those products, except that ryazhenka. I asked him if the brown color had anything to do with chocolate, but that was not the case. What it was, he couldn't tell me in English either, all he did was stroke his stomach with his hand to indicate that Ryazhenka was very good for the stomach and intestines. I bought a half liter bottle, I wanted to try that.

When I got home, I first looked up some more information about this. I found an English page on Wikipedia about “Ryazhenka”, but no Dutch translation. An African version and because it is easy to read, the description below is in African. Something different, isn't it?

Ryazhenka (Ukrainian пряжене молоко or ря́жанка, Russian ряженка) is a kind of sour milk with a fat content between 3 and 8 persent, which is fermented with Streptococcus thermophilus. Its characteristic brownish color is created during the caramelization process, the so-called Maillard reaction.

Ryazhenka are known as Ukraine's national drink, but are also produced in neighboring countries such as Russia and Estonia.

Ryazhenka is traditionally made by farmers, which the heat of their stone sons also wanted to use after that bread bin. So the small pots, so-called glaciers, are heated with a mixture of milk and cream to just below boiling point (90 °C) and then placed in the oven. On the next day, yoghurt culture was added and the milk was fermented at about 40 °C. After a day or so at a relatively high temperature, the milk usually has a brownish crust, but in any case it has a yellow or brownish color thanks to the caramelization process. This is then stirred and can be enjoyed immediately or placed in the refrigerator first.

Ryazjenka has a creamy texture and that mild taste of sour milk. Just boiled or pasteurized milk is free of bacteria and ensieme and can therefore be stored at room temperature for up to forty hours. Home-made rjazhenka is used vir a variety of recipes such as cakes and tertes, pies and rusks. Today ryazhenka is also processed industrially.

So, we know that again. I don't know how the Russians make it in Thailand, but it tastes good. It's a brown, lumpy drink that reminded me of buttermilk. Nice, but not something to drink every day, also because it is not really cheap at 70 Baht for half a liter.

When I was looking for information on the Internet, I came across Dutch-based Russian shops, where a variety of Russian and Eastern European foodstuffs are for sale. I counted about a dozen scattered across the country. Bearing in mind what the Russian told me about expansion in the supermarket, it will not surprise me if there will be special Russian supermarkets in Thailand before too long.