Huslianka
Fermented Hutsul milk
Huslianka (гуслянка): thick, tangy Hutsul fermented milk
High in the Hutsul villages around Verkhovyna and Kosiv, milk was boiled, cooled and left to sour in a wooden keg called a berbenytsia, which held the cultures from the last batch and gave the drink its name and its gentle tang. The result is huslianka: thicker than kefir, smooth like loose yogurt, with a fresh, clean sourness that shepherds drank with mamalyha and new potatoes. Today you will find it bottled at Carpathian markets, but it is easy to make in a glass jar at home. For safety, always start from pasteurised milk, use a scrupulously clean jar and move it to the fridge as soon as it sets. The usual slip is adding the starter while the milk is still hot, which kills the cultures, so cool it to body temperature first. Discard any batch that grows fuzzy or pink mould or smells unpleasant. Chef's tip: keep two spoons of each batch to start the next one; the flavour gets rounder with every round.
- Total time
- 1440 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 4 ¼ cups whole milkpasteurised
- 3 tbsp sour cream with live culturesor plain live kefir
- 1 pinch salt (optional)
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Pour boiling water into a 1.5 litre glass jar and over its lid and a spoon, then drain and leave to air dry upside down on a clean cloth.
5 minStep 2: Bring 4 ¼ cups whole milk to the boil in a heavy pan over a medium heat, stirring so it does not catch, then turn the heat to low and simmer for 2 minutes.
10 minStep 3: Take off the heat and let it cool to 38–104°F, warm but comfortable on the inside of your wrist; check with a thermometer if you have one.
40 minStep 4: Whisk 3 tbsp sour cream with live cultures with a ladle of the warm milk until smooth, then stir it back into the pan and pour everything into the jar.
2 minStep 5: Cover loosely with the lid or a clean cloth and leave in a warm spot, ideally 22–79°F, for 12–20 hours, until the milk has set to a soft, wobbly curd and smells pleasantly sour.
1200 minStep 6: Close the jar and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Stir until smooth and pourable, add 1 pinch salt if you like it the shepherds' way, and drink within 5 days.
120 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 160 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 12 g
- Fat
- 9 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does huslianka take?
- About 1440 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 1430 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of whole milk?
- Semi-skimmed milk with 1 tbsp cream per 240ml (1 cup).
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