It is, but it makes it a fresh flavor, very low-calorie. I mean yoghurt is sour too, it's not necessarily a bad thing. I drink it straight, my girlfriend uses it to bake muffins, and you can let chicken soak in it for a couple hours; if you cook it afterwards the chicken ends up deliciously tender (the enzymes in buttermilk break the chicken down a bit).

This was one of my favourite discoveries. The way it tenderizes chicken is really nice; some other methods don't feel quite right. Other enzymes I've tried have seemed to tenderize too much and perhaps in overly-localized areas at times. Maybe it's user error. Buttermilk gives you a nice, mild, consistent result though and it couldn't be much easier.

> the enzymes in buttermilk break the chicken down a bit

Am curious, is it the enzymes or the acidity? yogurt also tenderizes meat, but I always thought it was the mild acidity that does that, similar to how vinegar can also tenderize meats.

Not that it matters, as long as the job is done :)

I haven't tried it raw, but buttermilk icecream is delicious and lately I have noticed a trend towards things like buttermilk-fried chickenburgers and similar foods, I've been meaning to try one.

Buttermilk you buy in the store bears little relation to the buttermilk you get from churning butter.

And is also a different product in the US vs EU.

Same difference, isn't it? In the EU buttermilk usually refers to the by-product of butter making. In the US and Canada it's commercially produced cultured milk.

I don't think the buttermilk ice cream is made from teh same buttermilk that the OP is referring to. The milk leftover from the churning of butter is a kind of tangy skim milk and it can't be used to make ice cream because all of the fat has been removed to make the butter.

The buttermilk you buy in the store is basically fermented milk. It has a totally different flavor and texture. It is also delicious and you should totally make fried chickenburgers with it. You should also make biscuits, pancakes, cornbread, etc with it (assuming you eat those things) because buttermilk has an amazing flavor that's really unlike anything else.