French equivalent of buttermilk

[Felice]

Does anyone have an idea of what I might use in place of buttermilk? I'd like to make pancakes this weekend.

Merci!

[Susan G]

A few tablespoons of creme fraiche or of yogurt will probably provide the active cultures that the buttermilk adds.

If you use the yogurt, I'd add a dollop of heavy cream to the batter to help the richness factor.

Good luck!

[Carlsbad]

I've never thought about this before, but from the comment, I assume the French don't have something like buttermilk, which I find strange. Buttermilk, contrary to its name, has very little butterfat.

[kerriar]

Look for lait battu or babeurre - in the French speaking parts of Belgium it can be found in every supermarket. It has to exist in any country that makes dairy products. I've often wondered what people who don't make soda bread use it for.

[bleudauvergne]

I always use fermented milk from the middle eastern shops. I actually had this for the first time in Turkey so that when it was time to find buttermilk it was easy to find here. It should work fine in buttermilk pancakes and also cornbread, which is what I primarily use it for in cooking.

This has more butterfat than the buttermilk we know, but I have found that it does not in any way adversely affect the dishes I prepare with it. It also tastes simply delicious, exactly like buttermilk. packages vary from grocer to grocer, I know you can find this product in all mainstream supermarkets as well. You should be able to find it in your neighborhood Monoprix in the dairy section.

[Felice]

It also tastes simply delicious.    packages vary from grocer to grocer, I know you can find this product in all mainstream supermarkets as well.  You should be able to find it in your neighborhood Monoprix in the dairy section.

←

Thanks so much to everyone. I will definitely look for this in my supermarket tonight. I've never noticed it before, but haven't been looking.

[cigalechanta]

http://food4.epicurious.com/HyperNews/get/gtips/5090.html

The same question here and an answer.

[...tm...]

Since creme fraiche and buttermilk are soured by the same bacteria (Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides) I would think that mixing in a little creme fraiche into lowfat or skim milk (if such a thing is available in France) and leaving it around 70* F for at least 12 hours would make buttermilk. Here in the US I've done the reverse several times--adding buttermilk to heavy cream and leaving it out overnight to make creme fraiche because I refuse to pay the ridiculous markup for things that sound "fancy" here.

[Ptipois]

The equivalent of buttermilk is called "lait ribot" and it is a traditional produce from Brittany. It can be found in many supermarkets. It has all the uses of buttermilk, and it can be used as a starter for sourdough.

Laben is very much like "lait ribot", btw.

Edited December 15, 2004 by Ptipois (log)

[Felice]

I ended up buying Lait Ribot, which I found at the Bon Marché along with all of the other ingredients needed like baking powder and baking soda. They turned out beautifully.