Buttermilk

Despite its name, buttermilk lacks butter. Traditionally, buttermilk was the liquid left over after fat had been separated out of cream for making butter. It has a distinct, lightly sour flavor. Buttermilk has been drunk and used in American cooking since colonial times. Dutch settlers in New York had it with their breakfasts. In the early 1800s, New York City peddlers sold buttermilk at three cents a quart. It was sometimes resold as pot cheese, a combination of buttermilk, butter, salt, and sometimes sage.