In many cities in the Venezuelan Andes, there is a traditional beverage with the following preparation:
Put a slice/piece of pineapple about two inches per side in a bottle of milk.
Put the milk with the pineaple in the refrigerator for about 4 hours.
Take the milk, without the pineapple, and shake a little with a spoon to homohenize, then put about 2 oz in a milkshake machine, and shake for about 1 minute puting suggar in the process.
Optionaly put some artifitial flavor in the milkshake machine – I'd recomend coconut artifitial flavor. Also you can put in the milkshake machine with the milk, some small pices of ice cubes, this makes the drink a bit more creamy.
This is usually a companion for Empanadas or Pasteles
What is the name of this beverage? Is a powder or something else that substitutes the pineapple piece and/or the fermentation process?
I googled for something like this with no luck, the closest recipe is the pineapple-coconut milk, but that is not what I'm looking for.
Best Answer
From the description of how this beverage is made, it is not fermented. Four hours, at refrigerator temperature, and without any inoculation from an active bacterial culture simply will not cause any significant amount of fermentation.
Instead, what is happening is that the enzyme bromelin and acid present in pineapple is curdling the milk proteins, lending it a thicker texture. This is very analogous to some types of cheese making.
I was not able to determine a name for this beverage.