This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Amasi is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
Amasi (so called in isiZulu and isiXhosa, and "maas" in Afrikaans) is the common word for fermented milk that tastes like cottage cheese or plain yogurt. It is very popular in South Africa, where it is also known as inkomazi. Amasi is traditionally prepared by storing unpasteurised cow's milk in a calabash container (igula in isiZulu) or hide sack[1] to allow it to ferment. The fermenting milk develops a watery substance called umlaza; the remainder is amasi. This thick liquid is mostly poured over the mealie meal (maize flour) porridge called pap, or drunk straight. It is traditionally served in a clay pot (ukhamba in isiZulu) and eaten with wooden spoons.[2] Amasi is also produced commercially using Lactococcus lactis subsp lactis and L. lactis subsp cremoris and is pasteurised before distribution and consumption, with a shelf life of 21 days at 4°C. When produced as such, amasi may be an ideal vehicle for the delivery of probiotics.[3]
It is also popular with Indians who use it to make a cucumber salad served with biryani.
Amasi in South African culture
- Traditionally, Zulus believe that amasi makes a man strong, healthy and desired. During taboos (e.g. menstruation or when there has been contact with death) the affected person must abstain from amasi. Milk is hardly ever drunk fresh ('green milk'), but it is sometimes used to thin amasi which has gone too thick to be used.[4]
- The Zulu expression kwafa igula lamasi translates to the calabash of sour-milk broke, i.e. our last hopes were dashed.[5]
- Nelson Mandela mentions how he cautiously left a comrade's apartment--his hiding place in a white area when he was wanted by the Apartheid government--after he overheard two Zulu workers comment that it was strange to see milk on the window sill (left out to ferment) because whites do not drink amasi.
References
- ^ "SA Culture – Ukdula". National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
- ^ "SA Culture – Ukdula". National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
- ^ McMaster, L.D.; S. A. Kokott, P. Slatter, S. J. Reid, V. R. Abratt (2005-11-10). "The Use of Traditional African Fermented Beverages as Delivery Vehicles for Bifidobacterium lactis DSM 10140." (PDF). Department of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Cape Peninsular University of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering, Cape Peninsular University of Technology, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Cape Town. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
- ^ "Diet [of the Zulu people". Thinkquest. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
- ^ Hennessy, Esmé; Adrian Koopman (2001-09-01). "Gourds - Africa's Cornucopia" (PDF). The Magazine of the Durban Natural Science Museum 4 (2): 20. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
External links
 |
This South Africa-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This soft drink-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 6 April 2008, at 17:37.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Amasi".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.