Review: Skyr

[ysabetwordsmith]

Last time we went to Harvest Market, we picked up a carton of skyr, which is Viking-style cultured milk.  It is similar to yogurt, but not quite the same thing.  It doesn't smooth out when stirred, but tends to stay chunky, not my favorite thing.  It is the sourest yogurt relative I have tasted.  :P  There are notes strongly similar to sour cream and cream cheese.  I do not like it at all for eating by itself.  However, it could make an excellent ingredient, for example in cream cheese or pastries.  For people who dislike sweet things and find regular yogurt too insipid, try this.

Comments

[jenett]

A friend whose family is Icelandic (and who's been there to visit extended family) told me that skyr is often eaten with a good splash of heavy cream, to cut the sour (also often berries or other suitable fruit.)

Apparently it makes a big difference.

(I get the Siggi's brand, commercially, which is not chunky, and modifed somewhat for US tastes, and less sour)

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> A friend whose family is Icelandic (and who's been there to visit extended family) told me that skyr is often eaten with a good splash of heavy cream, to cut the sour (also often berries or other suitable fruit.) <<

I did not know that. This had berries blended in, but didn't help much.

>> (I get the Siggi's brand, commercially, which is not chunky, and modifed somewhat for US tastes, and less sour) <<

I that that is what I got.

[siliconshaman]

Sounds like it would do well as the base for a curry, especially a fruity curry where the sweetness of the fruit would cut the sour.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

Maybe as part of a grilled peach tart?

Add it to---

[dialecticdreamer]

chocolate cake, one of the old fashioned recipes that calls for buttermilk or sour cream. If buttermilk, use about 1/2 the amount, then thin with water or milk, and sour cream, straight.

Oh, and let me know how that tastes.

[pronker]

Viking style yogurt, How interesting. Vikings make me think of mountains. I wonder if it came from there?

[conuly]

I wonder if, with use of an immersion blender, it'll make a decent raita.

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

If you like your raita extremely sour, then yes. As one of the ayurvedic tastes is sour, this could be a great advantage. Also if you are into things which are very sweet and spicy, such as Carolina reapers with their fruity note, then a sour raita would make a good contrast.

Re: Hmm...

[conuly]

Who isn't into sweet and spicy!? (Well, other than people who don't like spicy to begin with, I guess.)

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Yeah, I'm into most spice-heat, except for ginger. My favorite raita is sweet-tart with cucumber.

[fyreharper]

Speaking of yogurty things, I found Oui yogurt on our last store trip. It's good! I tried the strawberry and the peach; unusually for me, I liked the strawberry one better. The peach had a little bit of a weird texture at the yogurt/fruit interface.

Thank you for the recommendation!

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I like turning friends on to new things. I liked the strawberry, cherry, and blueberry. I haven't gotten to try the other flavors yet.

[redsixwing]

Huh. I recently made a yogurt-based sauce that was too weakly-flavored (weird, as I used a brand of Greek yogurt I quite like for its strong flavor) once I got the vinegar and dill into it. I bet that would be tasty.

I'm sorry it wasn't what you wanted for eating, but thanks for the information!

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Definitely try the skyr. I think they had it in plain or vanilla, most brands do. It had a complex and assertive flavor that would probably work great as an ingredient.