A lot of information about kefir (and other homemade natural foods)

December 9, 2017 9:29 AM

This is the homepage of Dominic Anfiteatro, which contains a lot of information about kefir, kombucha, soy milk, and other hippie foodstuffs. Enjoy the non-ironic retro design!
posted by 8603 (21 comments total)

Enjoy the non-ironic retro design!

XHTML ftw!

That said, I do loves me some kefir. Not sure I'm up to making my own, though.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:40 AM on December 9, 2017 [3 favorites]

Wow, this is pretty thorough. There's a lot of stuff I haven't heard of.
Also, Dominic Anfiteatro is a cool name.
posted by Bee'sWing at 9:47 AM on December 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

Need a song about kefir? He's got one: Let's Say Kefir! Also, he appears to be a Hammond organ (and Leslie speaker) enthusiast and has posted quite a bit of info about both of those.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:09 AM on December 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

Thorzdad, it's nowhere near as hard as he makes it sound! Drop the starter into some milk for 24h, take it out, then rest the kefir for 12h at room temperature and 12h in the fridge.
posted by 8603 at 10:16 AM on December 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

Kefir, Yogurt and Kombucha are all pretty easy to make, you basically just add grains/some yogurt/a scoby to milk/milk/tea and wait. With different heat amounts depending on what you're making. C'est tous! No weird prayers required. But man this such a great callback to what I've begun thinking of as the pre-Facebook web. Such wonderful neon-pastel tables!
posted by dis_integration at 10:42 AM on December 9, 2017 [3 favorites]

Also, Dominic Anfiteatro is a cool name.
posted by Bee'sWing

You beat me to it, I came in here to say that I wish my surname was Amphitheatre.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 11:01 AM on December 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

Also, this page is really great, I sent it to a friend who is a kefir fanatic, and keeps trying to get me interested, although I keep telling her I'm not ready for the commitment.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 11:04 AM on December 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

Lolly McAmphitheatre — yeah, it's got a nice ring to it.
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:10 AM on December 9, 2017 [4 favorites]

This man is wrong in his opinion about kefir being delicious but I am in awe of his commitment.
posted by Going To Maine at 12:56 PM on December 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

I am now distressed and sad about the writer’s two deceased children mentioned on the page, and concerned that he seems not to have updated this page in many years. Is he okay?
posted by Jimbob at 1:00 PM on December 9, 2017 [3 favorites]

One of his pages says "Edited November 29, 2017" at the bottom & several others had dates in 2016, so he seems to be around.
posted by belladonna at 2:17 PM on December 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

Just confirming that they're still around - I ordered cultures from them a few months ago and was very happy with both the cultures and service :)
posted by coleboptera at 5:18 PM on December 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

I have a small tupperware of kefir grains in my fridge right now! My sister says it is the best - this site is helping me get closer to starting it.
posted by fleecy socks at 7:50 PM on December 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

Home-made milk kefir is really yummy and easy to make, I just make mine in a clean quart mason jar, stir it a few times a day and you're good. It does make a lot though, a quart every few days if you fill the jar so there's that to consider. Really easy though. Makes great berry smoothies!
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 1:44 AM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

I am always weirded out by the word "kefir" as the two-f spelling of it is used for a species of lime fruit because it's basically the Arabic n-word. Sort of like how Brazil nuts used to have an n-bomb in the name.

I accept that this isn't the intention and it probably has a different derivation, but I'm also not a fan of intentions and etymology used to defend words like this.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 5:50 AM on December 10, 2017

Appreciate this for making vinegar alone.
posted by filtergik at 7:06 AM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

I accept that this isn't the intention and it probably has a different derivation, but I'm also not a fan of intentions and etymology used to defend words like this.

The transliterations of the South African slur you're talking about I've always seen were written with an 'a' and two 'f's instead of an 'e'. Which is enough to differentiate it, I guess, since we don't have another name for it, and since it has completely different (Slavic) origins. I never connected them until now, but now I'm going to think about it every time I buy kefir.
posted by dis_integration at 7:39 AM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]

After a bit of searching, looks like all sources agree kefir is from Russian кефир, which is a loan from some language of the Caucasus or Central Asia. Wiktionary gives similar words in Kartvelian, Indo-European, and Turkic languages, and says they aren't sure which is the original source. The American Heritage Dictionary says the likely source is Old Turkic köpür 'froth, foam', which is also the source of köpürmek 'to foam' in modern Turkish.

One way or another, nobody seems to think it comes from Arabic, which everyone seems to agree is the source of kaffir.

So yeah, no, looks like accidental similarity in sound.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:23 AM on December 10, 2017 [4 favorites]

Though now I'm wondering whether avoiding the other word is why some people I know pronounce kefir like "Kiefer," as in Sutherland.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:25 AM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm ok with Kiefer, but we should probably let Mr. Anfiteatro know.
posted by 8603 at 5:36 PM on December 10, 2017

You'll forgive me if I'm not totally stoked about the homepage of some guy who wants you to risk your life and health to eat unpasteurized products so you can get some hypothetical, unproven health benefit, or use cod liver oil to treat hepatitis C and AIDS.

These are not harmless "natural cures", these are harmful charlatans that actually kill people.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 6:44 PM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]