Friday, March 5, 2010

filmjolk!


filmjolk
and
fresh raw milk



I have discovered a new food!!

An absolutely wonderful thing called filmjolk (there is supposed to be an umlaut over the "o"). It is a Swedish sour milk, sometimes referred to as "fils milk." I made it this week, the same way I make yogurt- see my blog post from August 29, 2009.

The reason I love it so much is because it is like yogurt (in that it is fermented/cultured and therefore full of good bacteria and enzymes, and it's super easy to digest- unlike straight milk for some people), but it is not sour at all! -I am used to pretty sour tasting yogurt right now, because I always seem to add too much culture when I'm making my yogurt!

I will tell the story of how I got this filmjolk culture:
Last Saturday morning my mom and I went over to La Selva Beach, just south of Santa Cruz, to the home of a very sweet family (I only remember the women's name, Ellen). Their 2-acre backyard is filled with vegi's, fruit trees, chickens, and a cow named Ginger -Right in the heart of La Selva Beach! It was SO beautiful to see.

We were there to pick up 3-1/2 gallons of raw milk, fresh from Ginger that morning. We also delighted in sampling some of Ellen's raw cheeses (mainly cheddar and blue). On our way out the door Ellen handed us a jar of her fils milk. What a gift we were receiving! Now I want to try more fermented milks, like laban from the Middle East, koumiss from Russia, or dahi from India. Filmjolk is just the beginning for me. . .

Here's to exploring foods which are unfamiliar to us!