Milk, buttermilk, fluid, whole

Fun Facts

1. Buttermilk refers to a number of dairy drinks. Originally, buttermilk was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cream. This type of buttermilk is known as traditional buttermilk.
2. The term buttermilk also refers to a range of fermented milk drinks, common in warm climates where unrefrigerated fresh milk sours quickly,as well as in colder climates, such as Scandinavia, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republic.
3. The tartness of buttermilk is due to acid in the milk. The increased acidity is primarily due to lactic acid produced by lactic acid bacteria while fermenting lactose, the primary sugar in milk.
4. As the bacteria produce lactic acid, the pH of the milk decreases and casein, the primary milk protein, precipitates, causing the curdling or clabbering of milk.
5. Buttermilk can be drunk straight, and it can also be used in cooking. Soda bread is a bread in which the acid in buttermilk reacts with the rising agent, sodium bicarbonate, to produce carbon dioxide which acts as the leavening agent.