How to Marinate With Buttermilk

Marinades in the 1600s cured and tenderized meats and fish by soaking the food in seawater, but today's marinades add flavor to food instead with a combination of an acid and often a fat. The acid of the marinade penetrates the top of the meat letting the fat carry the flavor deeper into the meat. While marinating does not infuse the flavor completely throughout the food, your meat, fish or poultry will still taste more flavorful and more moist with a marinade than without. Buttermilk contains both the necessary fat and acid ingredients, but adding some additional fat to your buttermilk marinade increases the flavor of your finished food. To improve your fish, pork and poultry flavors, marinate it in buttermilk first.