Sour Cream, Creamy Cream, Crème Fraiche: What’s the Difference?
Sour cream, froth and crème fraiche: These three dairy products are often used to add coolness and richness to foods such as potatoes, salads and nachos. But while all three products are made the same – by adding beneficial bacteria to heavy cream – they are all technically different ingredients.
Sour cream has a fat content of about 20 percent and has a pronounced sour taste, making it a good addition to any dish that may benefit from a light flavor. (Like buttermilk, it also works well with marinades.) Sometimes you will find that it is stabilized with additives such as gelatin, plant or animal enzymes that help thicken the product. But because it is relatively low in fat and high in protein, it is less stable when heated and tends to clog easily. For this reason, it is best used in cold dishes or added to a hot dish (such as chili) at the very end.
Crème fraîche, on the other hand, has a richer and more oily flavor than its sister, sour cream. This is reflected in the high fat content of the product – about 30 percent – which naturally gives it volume and thickness. (Generally, no thickeners or stabilizers are added to it.) Because it contains more fat and less protein, it can work in soups and boiling sauces (like beef stroganoff); it melts easily but does not collapse. You can do it yourself without much effort.
In addition, there is Mexican foam, which is thinner, thinner and slightly sweeter than crème fraîche and sour cream. There are a number of different types of cultured creams in Latin cuisine, such as sour, thinner Jocock and thicker Salvadoreña , but the most common of these is the sweet, tangy Mexicana . It can be bought at Mexican grocery stores, but if you can’t track it, you can simply make yourself some heavy cream and buttermilk (or, in a pinch, a mixture of sour cream and heavy cream ).
All three are popular in addition to spicy foods like nacho and tacos, so unless you heat them through or the thickness of the cream is a real issue, they can often be used interchangeably.
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