ScarlettHomemade Yogurt
April 17th 2007 03:13
Homemade Yogurt
About Yogurt
Yogurt or yoghurt, is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. It can be made from any milk, including soy milk, but modern production is dominated by cow milk.
The fermentation of milk sugar (lactose) produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yoghurt its gel-like texture and characteristic tang. Yogurt is often sold in unflavoured form; however, fruit, vanilla, or chocolate flavour are among the popular ones.
The earliest yogurts were probably spontaneously fermented by wild bacteria living on the goat skin bags carried by the Bulgars, a nomadic people who began migrating into Europe in the 2nd century AD and eventually settled on the Balkans by the end of the 7th century.
Today many different countries claim yogurt as their own, yet there is no clear evidence as to where it was first invented.
The theory of yogurt used by ancient Turks depends upon the books Diwan Lughat al- Turk by Mahmud Kashgari and Kutadgu Bilig by Yusuf Has Hajib written in the 11th century. In both books the word yogurt was mentioned and described as the nomadic Turks was using it, with the word yoghurt described in different sections. Also, the first knowledge of Europeans met with yoghurt can be seen in the French clinical history by the incidence of Francis I having a deadly diarrhea with no French doctor to cure. Yet, his ally Suleiman the Magnificent sent him a doctor, and with the help of yoghurt he was cured and Europeans believed to meet with yoghurt first time with that incident.
Yogurt remained primarily a food of South Asia, Central Asia, Western Asia, South Eastern Europe and Central Europe until the 1900s. An unproven theory by Russian biologist named Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov is that heavy consumption of yogurt was responsible for the unusually long lifespans of Bulgarian peasants. Believing Lactobacillus to be essential for good health, Mechnikov worked to popularize yogurt as a foodstuff throughout Europe. It fell to a Spanish entrepreneur named Isaac Carasso to industrialise the production of yogurt. In 1919, Carasso started a commercial yogurt plant in Barcelona, naming the business Danone after his son. It is better known in the United State as “Dannon”.
Yogurt with added fruit marmalade was invented to better protect yogurt against decay. It was patented in 1933 by Radická Mlékárna dairy in Prague.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 600 ml / 1 pint
600 ml semi-skimmed milk
1½ tablespoons natural low-fat live yogurt
1. Put the semi-skimmed milk into a pan.
2. Bring the milk just to the boil. Allow to cool to blood heat.
3. Lightly whisk in the live yogurt until thoroughly mixed.
4. Pour into a wide-necked vacuum flask, and seal securely.
5. Leave to stand undisturbed for about 10 hours or overnight.
6. Keep the yogurt in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Tips:
Yogurt is a fermented milk product. The fermenting agent is a little fresh yogurt, which is added to the milk. You can, of course, use your own homemade yogurt as the fermenting agent for making more.
**From “Complete Low Fat Cooking” and “Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”**
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