🧀 Matsoni

Matsoni is a traditional Georgian fermented milk product made from the milk of cows, buffalo and goats, sometimes sheep, or a mix of them. It is white, with an evenly dense texture (a little whey is allowed) and a specific, pleasant fermented-milk taste and aroma.

The Georgian specification describes fermentation with a starter called dedo, made of local bacteria: thermophilic and mesophilic streptococci and thermophilic rods. Matsoni that is one to two days old can serve as the dedo. The milk is fermented at 41–45 °C for 3–4 hours until the acidity reaches 70–75 °T, then cooled to 4–6 °C and kept for 12–20 hours before it is sold.

Matsoni or yogurt, matsoni or kefir? People search for these pairs all the time, and the reliable difference on this page is process. Matsoni is fermented with a Georgian starter called dedo, made of local thermophilic and mesophilic streptococci and thermophilic rods, at 41–45 °C for 3–4 hours, then cooled and held for 12–20 hours. In a study its microbes were dominated by Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus. The name is also a registered Georgian geographical indication, so it points to origin as well as to method.

Look for the name “matsoni” (also spelt matzoon or madzoon) and the milk named on the pack: cow, buffalo, goat, sheep or a mix. The traditional product keeps only 72–120 hours at 6 °C, so expect a short date and a place in the chilled dairy section. You are most likely to find it at delicatessens and shops that stock Georgian food. The registration is Georgian, a national geographical indication, not the EU PDO symbol.

A scientific study of traditional matsoni found a microbial community dominated by Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus; the traditional product has a short shelf life of 72–120 hours at 6 °C. Matsoni is registered in Georgia as a geographical indication (No. 4, 24 January 2012), and its production area is the whole of Georgia.