We have been trying to find sour cream in Italy, but have had no luck. Any suggestions?

Hi Stephanie,
I don't know where you'll be in Italy, but it is usually available at the Coop in Sansepolcro (Eastern Tuscany). It is possibly also available at the larger Ipercoops.
As well we are able to order it through our local 'health' food store as it is available through the organic/bio distributors from Germany.

-Sada Sat
www.yogaborgo.com

I found it at Bennet here in Northern Italy...

http://www.bennet.com

We don't have it here but I use Total Greeek Yogurt (not the fat free) as a replacement for everything (curries, mexican food, on a baked potato, etc.) and it works GREAT.

I would like to help you, but I have no idea of what is sour cream. Is it "panna"? Not the sweet one you put on ice cream, but that one you can use as souce for pasta.

Panna acidata. Not at all common here, but quite common through much of the western world. Similarly, buttermilk, which was once what was left after churning butter and now is cultured somewhat like yoghurt, is simply unheard of. Sour cream is hardly health food, but buttermilk (and related kaffir) is a very healthy food which is often prescribed to help control cholesterol.

ok,don't you have just to add lemon juice andsalt to the normal "panna"?

OK, miss rosso! You have been holding out on me on the sour cream! haha Too bad there is no Bennet around me, I think driving to Milan is a little extreme for sour cream, even for me. hahah But I looooooove sour cream.

You can also get sour cream aka panna acida at Esselunga. At Esselunga is in a glass jar in the dairy section, called Creme fraiche di Normandia. It's a little thicker than "normal" sour cream, but is not too bad at all.
Ann
My Life in Italy

Creme fraiche is not the same as sour cream. Something that is available though pretty much everywhere and is a perfectly good substitute is Greek yogurt, the brand name is Total and as I have said before, it can be used in anything that needs sourcream.

I alwasy thought the creme fraiche was a very thinck cream , but sweet for baking and desserts, so certainly it's not the same as sour cream. We also use greek yogurt as our sour cream substitute, thanks to Cristina!

Have also done scarletstarlet's suggestion with the panna and lemon juice (minus the salt), or mixing one part panna di cucina and one part yogurt intero and let it sit out for a few days.
Ann
[URL=My Life in Italy]http://www.blogcharm.com/amborg[/URL]

quote:

Originally posted by Barb (and Art):
I alwasy thought the creme fraiche was a very thinck cream , but sweet for baking and desserts, so certainly it's not the same as sour cream. We also use greek yogurt as our sour cream substitute, thanks to Cristina!

No no, creme fraiche is not sweet! It's a little sour (hence the 'fraiche') but not as sour as sour cream. Works GREAT in food (esp for people like myself who thinks that the sour cream is too sour) but I wouldn't use it for desserts!!!

Does greek yogurt taste different than regular yogurt?

Thanks Ann! I am going to look for that next trip to Esselunga! I was never sure what to look for.

I do like Total Greek Yoghurt, and I do use it, but it isn't completely a replacement for sour cream in every recipe. I still have not found a substitute for buttermilk, although the powdered works in things you bake.
The bacterial action makes these two things different from the quick-fix lemon juice method.
Scarlet, you might be interested to know that in the US where mascarpone is not always found, it's suggested that lemon juice in cream is the same thing. Do you believe that? They also claim one can make ricotta using milk the same way, then aging and straining it.

I found a good "buttermilk" at one of the local Islamic butchers up the street from my house. It's called latte fermentata (sp?). So if you're in need of buttermilk, if you have an Islamic butcher in the area, check there.

No prob American Girl. Just don't be too suprised with the price, is over 2 euros for a little jar. That's when I started making sour cream at home, for a fraction of the price and is just as good.
Ann
My Life in Italy

Why don't we move this to the Food and Wine forum where it could be more easily in the future?

thank you everyone!!!!! There is a ipercoop in Livorno... Hopefully, I can find it there. I mean reallly, mexican food with no sour cream????? that's like pasta with no cheese.

Tng on for a bit too long in the "Everything else" forum to move it without consequences, but I crossposted it to the Food forum too.

I found it at the Coop in Florence. It is called Saurrahm. In the dairy section near the yogurts & stuff.

Thank you Cherie!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Barb (and Art):
I alwasy thought the creme fraiche was a very thinck cream , but sweet for baking and desserts, so certainly it's not the same as sour cream. We also use greek yogurt as our sour cream substitute, thanks to Cristina

I agree with Barb – I use a mix of Philadelphia and crème fraiche to make cheesecakes (I’m a dab hand) because it gives the cheesecake a lighter feel, although there are recipes that use sour cream too. I think you could get away with using yoghurt though, but it may not work out the same way. I have real problems with cooking ingredients in Italy – I can’t get my head round the concept that they have panna which is kept with dry goods – ie not refrigerated. Therefore it cannot be fresh cream. My suocera really likes cheesecakes (especially since she saw them being made on Alice) so I make them occasionally, but bring down the crème fraiche from London when we come at weekends. When we move out permanently I don’t know what I’ll do. Have had a good search at Carrefour (huge hypermarket – our largest one) and they don’t stock what I call any type of fresh cream. Chemical whipped cream (the stuff they spray out on cans) doesn’t count.

When the suocera was over in London last I took her to the cream section and showed her what we use – i.e. single, double, soured, fraiche etc. She was amazed at the selection.

I do not use the cream in the long life boxes but there is fresh cream in the refrigerator section at the grocery that is very good.

For a greta cheesecake, I use this recipe:

Lindy's Cheesecake

CRUST
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick unsalted butter 1 egg yolk


FILLING
40 ounces cream cheese -- softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup heavy cream

CRUST: Mix flour, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla. With pastry blender, cut in butter and egg yolks (food processor is great for this!). Shape into a ball and wrap in waxpaper. Refrigerate for one hour.

Pat about a third of the dough onto the bottom of an ungreased 9" springform pan. Bake at 400F for 10 minutes or until golden. COOL! Butter sides of springform pan. Fit over bottom. Pat rest of dough evenly along sides of pan. Do not bake!

FILLING: With electric mixer, beat cheese until fluffy. Slowly add sugar, flour, salt, vanilla, and lemon zest to cheese, beating until smooth. At low speed, add eggs and two yolks, one at a time. Stir in cream. Turn into pan. Bake at 500F for 12 minutes, then reduce heat to 250 and bake for one hour and 10 minutes). Turn off oven, and leave door ajar for one hour. Cool on rack. Remove sides of pan. Refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving.

From Betty Crocker:
LINDY'S CHEESECAKE SQUARES:
Heat oven to 400º. Lightly grease rectangular pan, 13 × 9 × 2 inches. Press crust mixture on bottom of pan. Do not place pan on cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes; cool.

Heat oven to 475º. Pour cream cheese mixture into pan. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 200º. Bake about 45 minutes or until center is set. Turn off oven and leave cheesecake in oven 15 minutes; cool 15 minutes. Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours.

MrsCalabrese, we just got back from Puglia. 38 degrees and not even July yet.. we had a lovely couple of days at the beaches near Gallipoli and the rest in the countryside near Lecce with friends.

While I didn't look for panna in those parts, I've always found it right next to the milk: "panna liquida". The panna liquida is somewhere in the middle of what you'd call "heavy" and "light" cream in the US (double/single in the UK, I infer).. kind of all-purpose. Maybe you could ask the supermarket staff to be sure they don't stock it?

Another trick might be to ask someone at your favori