(), also known as , is a traditional fermented milk product from Sweden, and a common dairy product within most of the Nordic countries. It is made by fermenting cow's milk with a variety of bacteria from the species Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides. The bacteria metabolize lactose, the sugar naturally found in milk, into lactic acid, which means people who are lactose intolerant can tolerate it better than other dairy products. The acid gives a sour taste and causes proteins in the milk, mainly casein, to coagulate, thus thickening the final product. The bacteria also produce a limited amount of diacetyl, a compound with a buttery flavor, which gives its characteristic taste.
has a mild and slightly acidic taste. It has a shelf-life of around 10–14 days at refrigeration temperature.
Overview
In the Nordic countries, is often eaten with breakfast cereal, muesli or crushed crisp bread on top. Some people add sugar, jam, apple sauce, cinnamon, ginger, fruits, or berries for extra flavor.
In Norwegian it is called () ('sour milk') or skjør/skyr but the official name is (). The drink is also popular in Latvian kitchens, where it is called , ('fermented milk' or 'sour milk') and can be bought ready from stores but is more commonly made at home. It can also be purchased and is popular in the neighboring country, Lithuania, where it is called or ('sour/fermented milk'). Due to its popularity, it can be bought in many stores alongside kefir.
Manufactured is made from pasteurised, homogenised, and standardised cow's milk. Although homemade has been around for a long time (written records from the 18th century speak of -like products, but it has probably been around since the Viking Age or longer),Även Linné åt filmjölk, www.naringslivshistoria.se it was first introduced to the Swedish market as a consumer product in 1931 by the Swedish dairy cooperative Arla. The first was unflavoured and contained 3% milkfat. Since the 1960s, different varieties of unflavoured have been marketed in Swedish grocery stores. , a more elastic variant of was introduced in 1965; lättfil, with 0.5% milkfat was introduced in 1967; and , with 1.5% milkfat, was introduced in 1990.
In 1997, Arla introduced its first flavoured : strawberry-flavoured . The flavoured was so popular that different flavours soon followed. By 2001, almost one third of the sold in Sweden was flavoured . Since 2007, variations of include with various fat content, flavoured with fruit, vanilla, or honey, as well as with probiotic bacteria that is said to be more healthy, such as Onaka which contains Bifidobacterium lactis (a strain of bacteria popular in Japan) and Verum Hälsofil which contains Lactococcus lactis L1A in quantities of at least 10 billion live bacteria per deciliter.
In English There is no single accepted English term for or , but the most common English term is yogurt. and/or has been is sometimes translated to English as sour milk, soured milk, acidulated milk, fermented milk, and curdled milk, all of which are nearly synonymous and describe but do not differentiate from other types of soured/fermented milk. has also been described as viscous fermented milk and viscous mesophilic fermented milk,. Furthermore, articles written in English can be found that use the Swedish term , as well as the Anglicised spellings filmjolk, mjölk, and mjolk.
In baking, when is called for, cultured buttermilk can be substituted.
In Finland Swedish
In Finland Swedish, the dialects spoken by the Swedish-speaking population of Finland, is the equivalent of filbunke in Sweden. Not all variants of are found in Finland, normally only and långfil. Swedish-speakers in Finland usually use the word , which is the older name for (also in Sweden) or (in Finnish), which is a fermented milk product that is thinner than and resembles cultured buttermilk.
Types in Sweden In Sweden, there are five Swedish dairy cooperatives that produce : Arla Foods, Falköpings Mejeri, Gefleortens Mejeri, Norrmejerier, and Skånemejerier. In addition, Wapnö AB, a Swedish dairy company, and Valio, a Finnish dairy company, also sell a limited variety of in Sweden. Prior to the industrial manufacture of , many families made at home.
culture is a variety of bacterium from the species Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides, e.g., Arla's culture contains Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris, Lactococcus lactis biovar. diacetylactis, and Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris.
Classic variants Name Literal translation Milkfat content Fermentation culture Produced by Year introduced Description 2.5%–3% culture Arla Foods, Falköpings Mejeri, Gefleortens Mejeri, Milko, Norrmejerier, Skånemejerier, Wapnö AB 1931 (Arla) "Regular" . made from 3% milkfat. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. Also comes in a variant made from organic milk, a low-lactose variant that has been treated with lactase enzyme, a variant with added fiber (, ), and a variant with higher milkfat content (Arla , 3.8–4.5% milkfat). Has been in the Swedish language since 1741. middle (lowfat) 1.3%, 1.5% culture Arla Foods, Falköpings Mejeri, Gefleortens Mejeri, Milko, Norrmejerier, Skånemejerier 1990 (Arla) made from 1.5% milkfat. Comes unflavoured only. light (nonfat) 0.4%, 0.5% culture Arla Foods, Falköpings Mejeri, Gefleortens Mejeri, Milko, Norrmejerier, Skånemejerier, Wapnö AB 1967 (Arla), 1968 made from 0.5% milkfat. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. Also comes in a low-lactose variant that has been treated with lactase enzyme. fi: long 3% culture + Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis var. longi Arla Foods, Gefleortens Mejeri, Norrmejerier, previously Milko (which was "longer" than Arla's) 1965 (Arla) with a characteristic long and almost elastic texture due to Lactococcus lactis var. longi, a strain of bacteria that converts the carbohydrates in milk into long chains of polysaccharides. Comes unflavoured only. More common in northern Sweden. Sometimes eaten with ground ginger. Has been in the Swedish language since 1896. Bollnäs 3% culture from Bollnäs Milko that originated in Bollnäs. Comes unflavoured or vanilla flavoured. fell fil 0.8%, 3.8–4.5% special culture Norrmejerier Available as unflavoured, with birch sap, blueberry, cloudberry or raspberry.fi-se: Fil fi: Viili bowl of 1%, 1.9%, 2.2%, 2.5%, 3%, 3.5%, 4% special culture Milko, Valio Milk that has fermented, unstirred, in small bowls. Has a pudding-like consistency. Similar to unstirred långfil. Traditionally made in small bowls from (unpasteurized and unhomogenized) raw milk, which normally contains some cream. The cream forms a yellowish layer of sour cream on top. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. Has been in the Swedish language since 1652. lactose-free 3.5% culture Valio made from 3.5% milkfat and treated with lactase enzyme. Comes unflavoured only.
Probiotic variants Name Literal translation Milkfat content Fermentation culture Produced by Year introduced Description A-fil 0.5%, 2.7%, 3% culture + Lactobacillus acidophilus Arla Foods, Falköpings Mejeri, Gefleortens Mejeri, Milko, Skånemejerier, Wapnö AB 1984 (Arla) with Lactobacillus acidophilus, a commonly used probiotic bacterium. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. Also comes in a low-lactose variant that has been treated with lactase enzyme. Cultura Cultura active fil 0.1% culture + Lactobacillus casei F19 Arla Foods 2004 with Lactobacillus casei F19, a patented probiotic bacteria. Comes unflavoured only. Kefir 3% Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris, Lactobacillus brevis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris, Candida kefyr Arla Foods 1977 variant based on kefir, a probiotic food; only contains a small subset of microorganisms found in kefir grains. Originated in Caucasus. Comes unflavoured. Onaka stomach (Japanese) 1.5% culture + Bifidobacterium lactis Arla Foods 1990 with Bifidobacterium lactis, a probiotic bacteria popular in Japan. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. Philura 1.5%, 2.6% Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus casei Milko 2003 Tastes somewhere between regular and yogurt. Contains probiotic bacteria that is normally found in the digestive system. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. Verum Verum health 0.5%, 4% Lactococcus lactis L1A Norrmejerier 1990 that contains at least 108 Lactococcus lactis L1A bacteria per milliliter. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. Lactococcus lactis L1A is a patented strain of probiotic bacteria that originated from a culture of långfil from a farm in Västerbotten. In 1998 Verum hälsofil was approved as a natural medical product (naturläkemedel) by the Swedish national regulatory agency Medical Products Agency (Läkemedelsverket). It has been shown to have a positive effect on the immune and digestive system. Öresund 0.9%, 1% culture + Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium Skånemejerier 2000 with Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium, probiotic bacteria. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. ProViva Naturell ProViva unflavoured 1% culture + Lactobacillus plantarum 299v Skånemejerier 1994 that contains at least 5.0 × 107 Lp 299v per milliliter. Comes unflavoured. Lp 299v, a patented probiotic bacteria, has been shown to decrease the symptoms of colon irritation and stressed digestive system in people who consumed ProViva.
Homemade filmjölk To make , a small amount of bacteria from an active batch of is normally transferred to pasteurised milk and then left one to two days to ferment at room temperature or in a cool cellar. The culture is needed when using pasteurised milk because the bacteria occurring naturally in milk are killed during the pasteurisation process.
Tätmjölk A variant of called , , or is made by rubbing the inside of a container with leaves of certain plants: sundew (Drosera, ) or butterwort (Pinguicula, ). Lukewarm milk is added to the container and left to ferment for one to two days. More can then be made by adding completed to milk. In Flora Lapponica (1737), Carl von Linné described a recipe for and wrote that any species of butterwort could be used to make it.
Sundew and butterwort are carnivorous plants that have enzymes that degrade proteins, which make the milk thick. How butterwort influences the production of is not completely understood – lactic acid bacteria have not been isolated during analyses of butterwort.
See also Cuisine of Sweden Amasi Kumis Skyr Yogurt Ayran Viili Matzoon Buttermilk Kefir List of dairy products
Notes
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