# No buttermilk in England? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988 "2009-01-12T21:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/1 "2009-01-12T21:46:08Z")
My sister can’t find it in Liverpool, do you lot not sell it over there? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/2 "2009-01-12T21:49:56Z")
I’ve never seen it. It doesn’t sound like something I’d find palatable. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/3 "2009-01-12T21:55:44Z")
You need it for brown bread, not drinking. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/4 "2009-01-12T21:59:22Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I’ve never seen it. It doesn’t sound like something I’d find palatable. You don’t drink it from a glass, like a beverage. It’s used as an ingredient in cooking — such as pancakes, or biscuits. (Recall that our “biscuits” refers to something different than what it does for you guys.) ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/5 "2009-01-12T22:01:33Z")
Boy did I make that mistake when I first came to North America. “Hmmm, _butter milk_? I like butter, and I like milk, how can I go wrong?” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/6 "2009-01-12T22:02:15Z")
There are some people that drink straight buttermilk. My father would drink it if there was any around and I knew some kids that drank it too. Not me though. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/7 "2009-01-12T22:12:21Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I’ve never seen it. > It doesn’t sound like something I’d find palatable. Buttermilk used to be the thin whitish liquid you had leftover after making butter from cream. Nowadays it’s a thick white cultured liquid, made by inoculating milk with bacteria, not entirely unlike yogurt. While people used to drink the old kind of buttermilk, the new stuff is pretty exclusively the province of cooks and bakers. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/8 "2009-01-12T22:12:28Z")
My husband uses it in his jalapeno cornbread and it’s a nice addition to oyster stew or other creamy soups. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/9 "2009-01-12T22:17:45Z")
I’ve seen it alongside the creme fraiche and soured cream in bigger Sainsbury’s stores, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/10 "2009-01-12T22:17:57Z")
I drink it. Not a big glassful at a time, though. I keep a pint on hand now and then for salad dressing purposes. I use a cup or so for the dressing and then I get to drink the rest. Good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/11 "2009-01-12T22:41:59Z")
Just in case you can’t find it easily, you can usually substitute an equal volume of low-fat yogurt for buttermilk in most baking recipes. Alternately, you can mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar with 1 cup of regular milk and let it curdle for 10 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/12 "2009-01-12T22:43:07Z")
As Mangetout says, they sell buttermilk at Sainsbury’s. Saw some with my own eyes this morning. Looking at the Sainsbury’s site, it’s 55p a pot. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/13 "2009-01-12T22:52:26Z")
Same price at Tesco. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/14 "2009-01-12T22:53:01Z")
Buttermilk is a staple in the Netherlands. Every supermarket sells it, every household has a carton in the fridge, especially in the summer. It is, after coffee, tea , OJ and milk, the standard offered beverage with lunches. iIt is healthy, refreshing, low in calories, and we love the taste. What we don’t have, and I sorely miss it, is kefir. Thin drinkable kefir is much like buttermilk. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/15 "2009-01-12T22:53:55Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’ve seen it alongside the creme fraiche and soured cream in bigger Sainsbury’s stores, I’m sure. Thanks, I’ll let my sister know. [QUOTE=MarcusF] Same price at Tesco. [/QUOTE] She didn’t think they had it, she often requests farm produce be sent over specially from Northern Ireland. ---
**Author:** ![ShakWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@ShakWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShakWave)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/16 "2009-01-12T22:55:34Z")
On a related note, is buttermilk the same as _lassi_? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/17 "2009-01-12T23:13:29Z")
I will drink it whenever it is available, a big ole’ glassful, or straight from the carton… I find it refreshing, as well as satisfying when I am a little hungry. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/18 "2009-01-12T23:17:19Z")
> [@ShakWave](#): > > On a related note, is buttermilk the same as _lassi_? The south Asian drink? No. \*Lassi \*is made with yogurt, salt and spices or sometimes fruit or fruit nectar and sugar. Modern buttermilk is, like the yogurt in _lassi_, made from milk and bacteria, but it’s different types of bacteria than the yogurt ones, which give it a different taste and odor. Buttermilk isn’t as thick as the yogurt, either - it is more like \*lassi \*in consistency, that’s true. Mmmmm…now I want a mango lassi. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/19 "2009-01-13T00:01:10Z")
Non buttermilk pancakes should be outlawed ---
**Author:** ![Miscue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@Miscue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miscue)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988/20 "2009-01-13T00:43:10Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > Just in case you can’t find it easily, you can usually substitute an equal volume of low-fat yogurt for buttermilk in most baking recipes. Alternately, you can mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar with 1 cup of regular milk and let it curdle for 10 minutes. Absolutely. My wife’s been doing this since we left the US over a year ago. Her cornbread and biscuits are as good as they ever were back home with store-bought buttermilk. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-buttermilk-in-england/480988.md?page=2)