🥣 Sour cream
Also known as: smetana, śmietana
Soured cream.
Smetana is a thick fermented dairy product made by souring cream. Pasteurised cream is inoculated with mesophilic lactic acid bacteria (mainly lactococci), held until it reaches the desired acidity and thickness, then cooled and left to “mature”. In the home tradition, smetana was skimmed from the top layer of soured milk — hence the name, from a Slavic word meaning “to sweep off”.
Smetana is traditional in the cuisines of Eastern, Central and Southeastern Europe and of Central Asia. Its fat content is usually 10 to 30% (some countries also make richer kinds). It is added to soups and salads and used in baking, sauces, and with pancakes and dumplings (varenyky).
Smetana differs from cream in its tangy taste and thick texture. Similar products are French crème fraîche and American sour cream (about 18% fat), but their cooking properties differ: for example, full-fat smetana curdles less when heated than low-fat smetana.
Composition per 100 g
| Fat | 19.4 g |
|---|---|
| Protein | 2.44 g |
| Carbohydrates | 4.63 g |
| Energy | 198 kcal |
| Calcium | 101 mg |
How it connects to milk
🥣 Sour cream → made from → 🥛 Cream → made from → 🥛 Milk
Links
- Packed in
- 🫙 Tub
- Made from
- 🥛 Cream
- How it is made
- 🔄 Fermentation
- What is used
- 🥞 Blini
- Where it is stored or sold
- 🧺 Market, 🕳️ Cellar
- Where it is traditional
- 🌍 Eastern Europe, 🌍 Central Europe
- Which peoples make it
- 🧑🤝🧑 Ukrainians, 🧑🤝🧑 Belarusians
- Product type
- 🏺 Traditional dairy products
- Part of
- 🥣 Fermented milk products
- Wine and milk
- 🍷 Malolactic fermentation
Frequently asked questions
What is smetana made of?
Cream soured with lactic acid bacteria. Good smetana should not contain vegetable fats — a product with them is called a “smetana product”.
What is the difference between smetana and crème fraîche?
Both are cultured cream, but they differ in fat content, starter cultures and traditions. Crème fraîche is usually richer (about 30% and above) and milder in taste.
Why does sour cream curdle in hot soup?
The proteins in low-fat smetana coagulate when heated and in contact with acid. Full-fat smetana added to slightly cooled soup curdles much less often.
Comparisons
Recipes
What to read next
- 🌍 Eastern Europe — A fermented-milk culture: tvorog, sour cream, ryazhenka, varenets, soured milk.
- 🔄 Fermentation — Lactic acid bacteria turn lactose into acid and the milk thickens.
- 🧑🤝🧑 Ukrainians — East Slavic people, the main population of Ukraine; their dairy staples are syr, smetana, ryazhanka and varenets, with bryndza in the Carpathians.
- 🫙 Tub — Plastic packaging for yogurt, sour cream and ice cream.
- 🏺 Traditional dairy products — Products made for centuries to folk recipes: fermenting, cheesemaking, slow baking, drying. Tied to regions and peoples.
Similar
🥣 Tvorog · 🧀 Ryazhenka · 🧀 Varenets · 🧀 Soured milk · 🥣 Yogurt · 🥣 Skyr
ℹ️ Dairy products contain lactose and milk proteins: if you are lactose intolerant or allergic to milk protein, ask a doctor.