• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

CooksInfo

  • Home
  • Encyclopaedia
  • Kitchenware
  • Recipes
  • Food Calendar
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • Encyclopaedia
  • Kitchenware
  • Food Calendar
×
Home » Dairy » Cheese » Soft Cheeses » Fresh Cheeses » Ayib

Ayib

Ayib Cheese

Ayib Cheese. Alleko / Getty Images via Canva Pro.

Ayib (aka Ayibe) is a soft Ethiopian fresh cheese similar to cottage cheese.

It is usually made at home or through farmhouse production, as a by-product of making butter (just as cottage cheese is in western cuisine.)

Cow’s milk for making butter is accumulated for several days. When there is  enough milk for a batch of butter, it is put in a warm place where the temperature can rise to about 30 C (86 F) for 1 to 2 days. Then it is churned (by shaking or other means) to make the butter.

What’s left behind as a by-product is the buttermilk. This is heated to 40 – 50 C (105 to 120 F). The whey is then drained off overnight through a cloth. What’s left in the cloth is the Ayib cheese.

About 6 to 8 litres (1.5 to 2 U.S. gallons) of buttermilk will make 1 kg (≈ 2 ¼ pounds) of Ayib.

Cooking tips

At meals, ayib is often served as a side dish, acting as a simple, cooling foil to many of the complex and sometimes fiery tastes in Ethiopian cuisine.

Nutrition

About 2% fat.

Language Notes

Aka Ayb, Ayibe

Sources

National Research Council (U.S.). Panel on the Applications of Biotechnology to Traditional Fermented Foods. Applications of biotechnology to traditional fermented foods: report of an ad hoc panel of the Board on Science and Technology for International Development. National Academies. 1992. Pages 71 to 74.

Yilma, Zelalem, G Loiseau* and B Faye. Manufacturing efficiencies and microbial properties of butter and Ayib – Ethiopian cottage cheese. Dairy Technology, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Holetta Research Center, PO Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 2007.

This page first published: Sep 21, 2010 · Updated: Sep 17, 2022.

This web site generates income from affiliated links and ads at no cost to you to fund continued research · Information on this site is Copyright © 2025· Feel free to cite correctly, but copying whole pages for your website is content theft and will be DCMA'd.

Tagged With: Ethiopian Food

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Skylar! This is a fake profile talking about how I switched to a paleo diet and it helped my eczema and I grew 4". Trust me, I'm an online doctor.

More about me →

Popular

  • E.D. Smith Pumpkin Purée
    E.D. Smith recipe for pumpkin pie
  • Libby's Pumpkin Pie
    Libby’s recipe for pumpkin pie
  • Pie crust
    Pie Crust Recipe
  • Smokey Maple Pepper Glaze for Ham
    Smokey Maple Pepper Glaze for Ham

You can duplicate your homepage's trending recipes section in the sidebar to reinforce the internal linking.

We no longer recommend using a search bar, newsletter form or category drop-down menu in the sidebar. See the Modern Sidebar post for details.

If the block editor is not narrower than usual, simply save the page and refresh it.

Search

    Today is

  • Philippines Independence Day
    Philippine flags
  • International Falafel Day
    Falafel balls

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • About this site
  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright enforced!
  • Terms & Conditions

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Site

  • Recipes
  • Encyclopaedia
  • Kitchenware
  • Food Calendar

This web site generates income from affiliated links and ads at no cost to you to fund continued research · The text on this site is © Copyright.