I & I - 2011, Side 24

24 I&I
When chess legend Bobby Fischer
first came to Iceland he was hard to
please. He made one absurd demand after
another. One thing he was always happy
with: Skyr, the Icelandic dairy product that
reminds many people of something else
they’ve tasted, but is not really the same.
The charm of Skyr was not undermined
by the fact that you could only get it in Ice-
land. Imagine how exciting pizza would be if
you could only get it in Italy, or if you had to
travel to the Caucasus to get yogurt.
Old fashioned Skyr was sold in only one
variety until about thirty years ago. Then
new products started to appear and now
you can get assorted flavors and even a
Skyr drink. The Skyr pie is a popular treat.
The good news for those who don’t live in
Iceland is that now you can get Skyr in many
stores both in Europe and America.
super Food
Now food connoisseurs have discovered
this delicacy and one American author, Cyn-
thia Sass, nutrition consultant and author of
best selling books on diets, called Skyr “Su-
per food”, the new yogurt, thicker and more
protein rich than Greek yogurt.
In Iceland people always knew that Skyr
was good and healthy, but it certainly helps
when specialists agree. Einar Sigurdsson,
president of MS-food in Iceland, said that
only a few products have been dubbed Su-
per foods, and that will certainly help ex-
ports to America. MS has been exporting to
the US for six years and results are encour-
aging. Skyr is also taking Nordic markets by
storm, in Norway, denmark and Finland. The
exports now are fourfold what they were a
year ago. Finland has also welcomed an-
other Icelandic dairy product, Hledslan or
Charge, using a low fat dairy product.
But even though many people say that
real Skyr can only be found in Iceland, we
now give you the secret recipe: “Skyr is
made from pasteurized and/or reproduced
skimmed milk which has been heated to at
least 72-78°C (162-172°F) for 15-20 seconds.
The skimmed milk is curdled with rennet
and soured with a conventional Skyr con-
denser and then the whey is separated from
it. Skyr is to contain at least 18 percent milk
solids.” You can try this at home.
But it might be a better idea to look for a
supermarket that sells the real thing.

tHe super good super Food
The dairy product that is not quite like anything else.
P
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