Sour cream

In the past, sour cream simply developed from fresh cream that soured naturally. Nowadays, however, it is fermented with the bacteria Streptococcus lactis, which adds to its characteristic tangy (or sour) taste. Sour cream is pasteurized, homogenized light cream containing 18 to 20 percent fat with a creamy, gel-like white body. Its thick consistency derives not only from the culturing, but from the addition of such ingredients as gelatin, rennin, and vegetable enzymes. Regular sour cream is thicker than fresh cream of the same fat content due to the partial coagulation that develops during the souring process. Sour cream is often used as a condiment and in cooking and baking. Sour cream can also be made by adding vinegar to pasteurized cream and allowing it to curdle. This produces an acidified sour cream instead of the usual cultured product.