🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Belarusians

Belarusians are an East Slavic people, the main population of Belarus in Eastern Europe. In their traditional cuisine the main dairy products were fresh cheese, tvorog, and sour cream: according to Wikipedia, they were widely used both in preparing dishes and as a dressing for dishes, including soups and potato pancakes.

Tvorog, according to Wikipedia, is made from soured milk: it is strained in hanging bags to separate the whey, and before use it is rubbed through a sieve or passed through a meat grinder. It is used to bake, among other things, syrniki; in fat content, tvorog ranges from fat-free to full-fat.

Sour cream was served with draniki — potato pancakes traditionally eaten with sour cream — and with kholodnik: a cold soup of beetroot or sorrel, to which, besides sour cream, egg and boiled potatoes are added. Buttermilk could be added to the broth of polivka soup, and milk was sometimes poured in when root vegetables were boiled.

Fermented cheese came later: according to Wikipedia, it was borrowed from the Netherlands and Switzerland only in the middle of the 19th century. Butter from the former Disna district was exported to Britain, where until the First World War it was the most expensive.

Why it matters to you. If you prepare Belarusian dishes, sour cream and fresh cheese are part of the recipe, not a garnish: draniki and kholodnik are served with sour cream. The word "tvorog" means similar fresh cheeses of different fat content in different countries, so check the fat content on the label.