Buffalo milk yogurt with honey, dates and oats may have become viral in neighbouring Turkey recently, however, two brothers from Kerkini, “respond” with the superfood from Serres. Buffalo milk yogurt from Kerkini with honey, walnuts or cranberry marmalade, all of them local.
Lefteris and Adam Xanthopoulos, who have a small vertical buffalo farming unit, producing and processing buffalo meat and milk products in Thrakiko, Serres, a small settlement with less than 100 people, right next to the Kerkini lake, where the largest population of buffalos in Greece lives.
Buffalo milk yogurt from Kerkini
Like Adam, who is a member of the Greek Gastronomy Chef’s Club, tells us, buffalo milk yogurt from Kerkini “is an ideal superfood for any time of the day, due to its creamy texture and slightly tart flavour”.
Buffalo milk yogurt is rich in calcium, vitamins and proteins, while its particularly beneficial to the digestive system. He recommends it as a dessert with the addition of honey and walnuts or cranberry marmalade – with dried cranberries – that are a great source of antioxidants and vitamin C. Of course, all of the toppings are from the area of Kerkini and Agkistro. (Mandraki walnuts: www.karydi.gr/tel.: 0030 6946006215, Honey: Nomes, Kerkini www.nomeskerkinis.com / tel.: 6976565310, Cranberry marmalade: Traditional Products from Agkistro “I Paradosi”, tel.: 0030 2323041210).
Adam also makes great kazan dipi (Turkish caramelised milk pudding), with buffalo milk and sugar, one of the most popular desserts both with locals and visitors. The story of this cream pudding from Istanbul is lost in time, when supposedly the Sultan asked one of his servants to prepare him a dessert. When the servant accidentally burnt the milk, he called the dessert “kazan dipi” which means the bottom of the pot, and he saved his life, giving us a unique sweet dish, which the buffalo milk makes even better.
The two brothers run the small family business “Kerkini’s Meat” in Thrakiko, on the country road between N. Petritsio – Kilkis, and there you can find buffalo milk dairy and pasta products, as well as buffalo meat products, all made with respect to tradition, maintaining the highest hygiene standards. The available products include kavurma, salami, sujuk, spicy sausage, village sausage etc., pasta made with buffalo milk, as well as various buffalo meat cuts (steak, entrecote etc), from the farm’s cattle. “Kerkini’s Meat” is a delicatessen where you can also have a coffee or an ice cream – now that the weather is getting better – also made with buffalo milk.
Buffalo milk and meat
Buffalo milk contains double the fat of cow’s milk, but less cholesterol. The lactose content is similar, while it contains more proteins and bioactive milk peptides, calcium and vitamin B. It also contains vitamin A, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium, as well as smaller quantities of vitamin D and C, iron, sodium, zinc, copper and manganese.
Keep in mind that all dairy products made with buffalo milk have a higher fat content than similar cow’s milk dairy products. They are richer with a “fuller” taste – a great example is the Italian mozzarella cheese.
But buffaloes also give meat, not just milk. Buffalo meat has very little fat, about 2% and very little cholesterol. Less than beef, pork tenderloin or chicken. It’s a lean and healthy meat with a deep red colour, relatively few calories, rich in protein (>20%).
For those counting calories, 100 gr of buffalo meat amount to 130 kcal. The same amount of chicken is 140-165 kcal, and of beef 260-300 kcal. It also has a high content of creatine, iron, zinc, phosphorus and vitamin B. It’s ideal for anyone who needs high quality protein or needs to lower their fat and sodium intake.
The Greek buffalo of Kerkini
At the edge of the lakeside forest of Kerkini, Adam and Lefteris run their own buffalo farm, maintaining the genetic traits of the Greek water buffalo in collaboration with the Center of Genetic Improvement of Nea Mesimvria, that is in charge of preserving the genealogy of Greek buffaloes.
According to tradition, the Greek buffalo, that is totally acclimatised in the wetlands in Macedonia, Thrace and Thessaly, first arrived in Greece from Asia, when the Persian king Xerxes arrived in Greece with his army in the first half of the 5th century to conquer the Greeks.
The Greek buffalo is totally acclimatised in Kerkini
The first record of large buffalo populations in Greece dates back to the 13th century. In 1952, in Macedonia and Thrace alone, the buffalo herds numbered about 71.000 buffaloes. Their number started declining in the beginning of the 1960s and in the beginning of this century there were only about 1000 buffaloes remaining. The implementation of a protection programme, due to it being a rare breed, has resulted in an increase in numbers, reaching 2000.
The Greek buffalo is black in colour and doesn’t have a thick coat, it comes of age at 5 years old, and has great strength, while its weight -at this age- can reach 550 kg for males and 450 for female animals. Its horns are thick and curved and can even reach 40 cm length. The buffalo has one of the strongest immune systems in the animal kingdom. Its favourite pastime is a mud bath, which helps it stay cool in the summer, protect itself from the sun as well as the insects.
Information:
• Kerkini’s Meat / tel.: 0030 2323071310
• FB/Kerkinis-Meat
• www.greekwaterbuffalo.gr
• www.kerkinilike.gr
