Crème Fraîche Pour Vous (and me).
Posted by Colin Coutts on Wednesday, December 6th, 2006Tags for this Article: appetizer, sauce, suggestions
When we did some smoked salmon canapes for a dinner party a while back, Mark suggested they’d be even better whith some crème fraîche, and he was right, dammit. However, without a gourmet food store within striking distance, or a half day to make some of the stuff, for that matter, we had to go without. No more, my friends.
Just mix a tablespoon of sour cream into a cup of heavy cream, cover, and leave at moderate room temperature for 12 to 18 hours, or until thick.
A quick and very simplified chemistry lesson is in order. The cream-culture bacteria in the sour cream (species of Lactococcus and Leuconstoc) convert the lactose in the cream into lactic acid. At the same time the lactic acid helps our friends crowd out their less desirable competition, it also creates the characteristic tang and thick, rich texture of crème fraîche for us by unraveling protein bundles and redistributing them throughout the solution. Woohoo!
Pair generous dollops of homemade crème fraîche with fish, fresh fruit, and caviar, daaahhling. It’s all super-easy, so now I’ll never look like a crème fraîche-free chump again! And neither will you.
