Adjective
Pronunciation: XXX
Ripened milk that has fermented and is ready to drink.
Kowoto describes milk at the point it has soured; is no longer liquid; and has formed a soft, supple product similar to yogurt but more delicate. This is the most esteemed stage for fermented milk, the point at which the milk is most balanced. The term is applied to all animal milk except for camel.
See also kule naoto.
If I ask you, ‘How is the milk?’ and it is kule naoto, then I will reply ‘Kowoto’.” — Robin Leparsanti in discussion with William Rubel, Feb 1, 2016.
Return to Stages of Milk Fermentation.
This is the draft manuscript of the Samburu Milk Project, © 2024 William Rubel.
Published by William Rubel
I am an author who writes about traditional food and foodways. My book, The Magic of Fire (2002) is about hearth cooking. I have written an introductory history of bread, Bread, a global history (2011) and am currently writing a history of bread for the University of California Press. Other areas of interest include wild mushrooms, and specifically the treatment of Amanita muscaria in the historic record. I also write about Early Modern British Gardens, and for a more general audience, I write for Mother Earth News on bread, gardening, and more. I have an ongoing research project into the smoke-cured fermented milk of the Kenyan Samburu tribe. I am a co-director of the Samburu Lowlands Research Station, Lengusaka. I am the founding editor (1972) of Stone Soup, the magazine of writing and art by young people.
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