Skyr

Skyr is a traditional Icelandic food made from cultured dairy. It has a thick, creamy texture like strained yogurt but tastes milder. People in Iceland have enjoyed skyr for many centuries as part of their everyday meals.

Skyr tastes slightly sour with a touch of sweetness. It is often served cold, sometimes with a dollop of cream. Today, companies make skyr with added flavors such as vanilla, coffee, or fruit to give it extra taste.

Etymology

The word skyr comes from an old English word called shear, which means "to cut." This name fits because when making skyr, the milk is separated into a thin liquid called whey and the thick skyr.

History

Skyr has been a part of Icelandic culture for a very long time. Old stories from Iceland, like Egil's saga and Grettis saga, mention skyr. But we don’t really know exactly what it was like back then because no one wrote down detailed descriptions. Long ago, people made skyr from sheep’s milk, but today most skyr is made from cow’s milk.

In places like Scandinavia, words that sound like skyr have been used for many years for different kinds of special milk foods. These are made by adding special cultures to skimmed milk and letting it ferment, without using rennet. People can eat this skyr with bread, mix it into drinks, add it to porridge, or use it in dips for flatbread. In some parts of Norway, like Østerdalen, there is a food called Kjellermjølk that is made in a similar way.

Nutrition

Skyr is a high-protein, low-fat food made from milk with most of the fat removed. The taste can vary a little between different brands. If you eat 100 grams of plain skyr, you’ll get about 13 grams of protein, 4 grams of carbohydrates, and just a tiny bit of fat—only 0.2 grams.

Production

Skyr is made from skimmed milk that is either pasteurized or heated to a high temperature and then cooled. A bit of the previous batch of skyr is added to the warm milk, along with a special culture and rennet, which makes the milk curdle. After fermenting for 5 hours, it is cooled and strained to remove the liquid whey.

Bacteria such as Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus help in making skyr, just like they do for yogurt. But a special yeast makes sure the product becomes skyr instead of yogurt.

Commerce

Skyr is a popular food in Iceland. In 2005, people started selling it in the U.S. at special stores like Whole Foods Market. Soon after, factories in Denmark and Scotland began making skyr too. At first, some countries tried to call it a special brand, but later decided it was just a common name like "milk".

In the 2010s, more and more skyr was sold outside of Iceland. People liked it because it had less sugar, no fat, and lots of protein, making it a good snack. In 2012, most of the skyr sold outside Iceland went to Finland, with some also going to the U.S. Many skyr shops opened in Finland in 2019. Today, skyr is made in many countries besides Iceland.