Yogurt without the thickeners
Allen Furst
Nearly every brand of yogurt sold in the US is thickened artificially by
adding pectin, gelatin, tapioca starch, agar or some other additive that
has nothing to do with yogurt. This includes most healthfood store brands.
Even the liquid yogurt, Alta Dena, is doctored with this crap. The same
brands sold in Europe (Yoplait, Danone) have no such additives, since the
local tastes (or regulations?) wouldn't support it.
I have finally found a brand of flavored yogurts sold locally that is
European-style without any thickeners added. It is called Wallaby, sold at
Whole Foods in Palo Alto (anyone know where else it can be gotten?). I've
tried it and it's very good: the strawberry flavor is a bit understated,
but the raspberry and peach are excellent.
af
Charleen Bunjiovianna
In article <afurst-3008...@taozer.vip.best.com> afu...@ccgate.dp.beckman.com (Allen Furst) writes:
>Nearly every brand of yogurt sold in the US is thickened artificially by
>adding pectin, gelatin, tapioca starch, agar or some other additive that
>has nothing to do with yogurt. This includes most healthfood store brands.
>Even the liquid yogurt, Alta Dena, is doctored with this crap. The same
>brands sold in Europe (Yoplait, Danone) have no such additives, since the
>local tastes (or regulations?) wouldn't support it.
You're absolutely correct.
While a junior in high school, I was sent to France as an exchange student
to stay with a large family. One of the other kids and I were dispatched
one day with our glass milk bottles to go to the dairy, a farm in a wooded
setting. There was a Romany encampment nearby, colorful tents, horsedrawn
carts, the whole works. We bought the milk, but we also got some small
foil-covered bottles: freshly-made yogurt. I have seen nothing like it
since. We took it home and had it with the cheese course that night
(dinners are often concluded by handing around a selection of cheeses).
We mixed a little sugar in, and it was simply phenomenal.
The only product that comes anywhere near that experience is plain Dannon,
and it is not as good as it used to be.
>I have finally found a brand of flavored yogurts sold locally that is
>European-style without any thickeners added. It is called Wallaby, sold at
>Whole Foods in Palo Alto (anyone know where else it can be gotten?). I've
>tried it and it's very good: the strawberry flavor is a bit understated,
>but the raspberry and peach are excellent.
Thanks for the recommendation; I will have to try that.
Charleen
--
You'll get no eggs from a tappit hen... URL: http://www.diadem.com
vijay kumar
You can do what I do. Make my own yogurt. It is really easy to do, and I make
it quite often using non-fat milk.
In article <afurst-3008...@taozer.vip.best.com>,
afu...@ccgate.dp.beckman.com says...
>
>Nearly every brand of yogurt sold in the US is thickened artificially by
>adding pectin, gelatin, tapioca starch, agar or some other additive that
>has nothing to do with yogurt. This includes most healthfood store brands.
>Even the liquid yogurt, Alta Dena, is doctored with this crap. The same
>brands sold in Europe (Yoplait, Danone) have no such additives, since the
>local tastes (or regulations?) wouldn't support it.
>
>I have finally found a brand of flavored yogurts sold locally that is
>European-style without any thickeners added. It is called Wallaby, sold at
>Whole Foods in Palo Alto (anyone know where else it can be gotten?). I've
>tried it and it's very good: the strawberry flavor is a bit understated,
>but the raspberry and peach are excellent.
>
>af
Andreas Ramos
Allen Furst (afu...@ccgate.dp.beckman.com) wrote:
: Nearly every brand of yogurt sold in the US is thickened artificially by
: adding pectin, gelatin, tapioca starch, agar or some other additive that
: has nothing to do with yogurt.
You're right about European yoghurt. It's much better. The same for the
butter: European butter tastes better because it has a higher fat content.
Spread any French butter on bread and that's enough for the bread; use
American butter and there's only a slight greasy taste.
Be careful about "European food laws". Germans have very high standards,
similar to Americans. But French have no food laws at all. This means
that cheese is made from non-pasturized milk: yes, it tastes better,
but... French are rather awful about food standards: they dump chemicals
into food, etc. Much of it can't be sold in the USA.
An excellent yoghurt is from North Persia. I knew Iranians in Germany
who'd brought their own cultures with them to Germany. It tasted so rich
and creamy. Some persian and middle-eastern stores here in California may
have their own cultures. You could also try persian or afghani
restaurants; ask if they use their own cultures and then just order a
bowl-full and drop it into a plastic bin that you've brought with you.
When I don't make joghurt, then I buy yoghurt in the large tubs and then
strain it a bit (take a fine mesh filter, or line a wire basket strainer
with a sheet of paper towel) and dump the yoghurt into it. After an hour
or so, the water has drained out and it's thicker. You can experiment and
see how thick/thin you like it. If you let it strain for 3-5 hours, you'll
get something similar to thick cottage cheese. Quite good too. I serve
this for dinners and people have no idea what it is: they've never seen it
before.
--
--
yrs, andreas
__________________________________________________________________________
Andreas Ramos and...@andreas.com http://www.andreas.com
Michael Geary
afu...@ccgate.dp.beckman.com (Allen Furst) wrote:
>Nearly every brand of yogurt sold in the US is thickened artificially by
>adding pectin, gelatin, tapioca starch, agar or some other additive that
>has nothing to do with yogurt. This includes most healthfood store brands.
An excellent brand of unflavored yogurt is Nancy's. No thickeners,
just good stuff. Most Safeway stores carry it. I'm almost certain
Trader Joe's yogurt is actually Nancy's as well--same container, same
ingredients, same taste.
Now that I think of it, I haven't checked the ingredient list on
Nancy's or Trader Joe's low fat or high fat yogurt, only the nonfat. I
don't like the taste of yogurt with fat in it anyway.
-Mike (Mi...@Geary.com, http://www.geary.com)
belka
In <afurst-3008...@taozer.vip.best.com> Allen Furst (afu...@ccgate.dp.beckman.com) wrote:
: Nearly every brand of yogurt sold in the US is thickened artificially by
: adding pectin, gelatin, tapioca starch, agar or some other additive that
: has nothing to do with yogurt. This includes most healthfood store brands.
: brands sold in Europe (Yoplait, Danone) have no such additives, since the
: local tastes (or regulations?) wouldn't support it.
: I have finally found a brand of flavored yogurts sold locally that is
: European-style without any thickeners added. It is called Wallaby, sold at
: Whole Foods in Palo Alto (anyone know where else it can be gotten?). I've
: tried it and it's very good: the strawberry flavor is a bit understated,
: but the raspberry and peach are excellent.
Great. Other thing you may try is, suprisingly, Lifeway's Kefir,
sold by the same Whole Foods chain. Despite misleading name,
it's the yogurt without additives, healthy and delicious.
Ironically, the closest imitation of the genuine kefir I've seen
around, is called _Old Bulgarian Buttermilk_ or some such thing,
by Berkeley's Farms.
Now, if only someone knew where to find real cheese, made without
rennet and additives, like Georgian suluguni cheese or Adygei cheese.
belka
Allen Furst
In article <3227d6aa...@samba.rahul.net>, Mi...@Geary.com (Michael
Geary) wrote:
>
> An excellent brand of unflavored yogurt is Nancy's. No thickeners,
> just good stuff. Most Safeway stores carry it. I'm almost certain
> Trader Joe's yogurt is actually Nancy's as well--same container, same
> ingredients, same taste.
>
> Now that I think of it, I haven't checked the ingredient list on
> Nancy's or Trader Joe's low fat or high fat yogurt, only the nonfat. I
> don't like the taste of yogurt with fat in it anyway.
>
> -Mike (Mi...@Geary.com, http://www.geary.com)
Mike-
Nancy's and Trader Joe both have thickeners in their flavored yogurts. I
think the unflavored ones may come without.
af
Brandy Schweiss
I've always really liked Pavel's Russian yogurt. I've always gotten
plain, and the ingredient list certainly doesn't list anything that
looks like a thickener! They might have vanilla, I don't remember,
but they don't have fruit flavors. (Question: could the acid in the
fruit make thickeners necessary?)
-Brandy
Robert Ochwat
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Allen Furst
In article <50i0sd$f...@soda.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU>,
bra...@soda.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU (Brandy Schweiss) wrote:
Evidently the fruit acid does not make thickeners necessary, since Wallaby
and pretty much all the European brands have fruit flavors but no
thickeners. These yogurts tend to have a more fluid consistency than do
the domestic Dannon et al. I think it's just a matter of manufacturers
giving a market what theythink it wants.
af
Michael Geary
afu...@ccgate.dp.beckman.com (Allen Furst) wrote:
>Nancy's and Trader Joe both have thickeners in their flavored yogurts. I
>think the unflavored ones may come without.
Thanks for the information, Allen. I should have mentioned I was
referring only to the unflavored, unsweetened yogurt.
-Mike (Mi...@Geary.com, http://www.geary.com)
Liz Swanson
Allen Furst wrote:
>
> Nearly every brand of yogurt sold in the US is thickened artificially by
> adding pectin, gelatin, tapioca starch, agar or some other additive that
> has nothing to do with yogurt. This includes most healthfood store brands.
Did you ever try making your own yogurt? It's easy, fast, and cheap. And
you can attenuate it to your own taste. I used to make it every week
(along with a few loaves of bread) when I was in college. Back then
there weren't the choices like we have now.
Thickeners aren't necessarily crap, they just add body and texture and
in some cases added nutrition. I'm not saying that commercial brands are
great, but some are perfectly fine. Someone wrote about having yogurt in
France with some folks--that must've been a treat. I'll bet that was
from unpasturized top-milk--pure heaven as all dairy products in Europe
are.
Robert Lauriston
Isn't the addition of thickeners mostly to make up for the removal of the fat?
As I recall most of the yogurt in Europe is whole-milk.
Allen Furst
In article <322F0D...@lauriston.com>, Robert Lauriston
<rob...@lauriston.com> wrote:
> Isn't the addition of thickeners mostly to make up for the removal of the fat?
> As I recall most of the yogurt in Europe is whole-milk.
>
I wasn't paying attention to the type of milk used in the yogurts I had in
Europe, and it's a bit far to check from here. But I looked at the Wallaby
label last night, and they use "low fat milk". So I still think the
thickeners are gratiutous.
af
Jim Hunt
|> I'll bet that was
|> from unpasturized top-milk--pure heaven as all dairy products in Europe
|> are.
So explain VIILLI, from Finland, pronounced vee-eee-lee.
Think yoghurt that has gone over the edge, to that bitter sour point.
Then there is the texture, the only thing close is a kids toy called GOOP,
thick, yet slimy at the same time. Really long chain molecule effect.
If you yanked your spoon out too fast you would trail a rope behind
but it would run like a liquid if you held it still.
The REALLY wierd part is that after a couple months of tasting various
brands and flavors, looking for something acceptable, I got used to it,
and began to eat all brands and flavors. I liked it in a strange sweet
& sour yoghurt kinda way.
If you are ever in scandinavia, check it out.
--
Jim Hu...@mti.sgi.com Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
jake grafton
A Persian guy told me his mother did this:
get a large pot of regular milk and heat to just about a boil. Remove
from heat and stir in a cup of plain yogurt. Let sit overnight, and in
the morning you have a whole pot of (new) yogurt.
Anyone ever try this?
jake grafton
Incidentally, I bought Nancy's yogurt today and verified the
ingrediants: no starch, pectin or geletin. But it still had the stiff
custard-like consistency.
Does anyone remember how yoplait was when it first came out? It was
sort of like the liquid yogurt drink. Thick but runny. Now its goopy
like instant pudding.
Also, does anyone know how to make the sweet Indian yogurt
drink(lassi)?
What about the fizzy-minty persian versian (doogh)?
Robert Lauriston
From personal observation, the thickness of natural yogurt seems directly proportional
to its fat content. The natural nonfat yogurts I've seen were all only slightly jelled
and tended to curdle and separate. As you go up the fat scale from low-fat to whole milk
to lebni the yogurt gets thicker and thicker, until it's practically solid.
Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking" doesn't discuss the fat issue explicitly, but he
does say that "dried milk solids are sometimes added to provide more casein for the solid
matrix" of casein micelles. I assume fats must do the same thing.
Rob McNicholas
I'm not sure that I agree that there is a direct relationship between
fat content and thickness. I've recently started buying Brown Cow
Yogurt, which is made with whole milk, possibly unhomogenized ("the
yogurt with the cream on top"), and it is quite thin. I poured some
out into my bowl this morning. (But it is also quite yummy.)
There are no thickeners listed in the ingredients.
-rob
Allen Furst
In article <ww4k9u2...@test-kiosk.eecs.berkeley.edu>,
ro...@test-kiosk.eecs.berkeley.edu (Rob McNicholas) wrote:
> I'm not sure that I agree that there is a direct relationship between
> fat content and thickness. I've recently started buying Brown Cow
> Yogurt, which is made with whole milk, possibly unhomogenized ("the
> yogurt with the cream on top"), and it is quite thin. I poured some
> out into my bowl this morning. (But it is also quite yummy.)
>
> There are no thickeners listed in the ingredients.
>
> -rob
Look again, Rob. I know I've checked out Brown Cow, and it is thickened
(possibly not the unflavored).
Any of the following qualify as stuff added for no purpose save to thicken:
gelatin
agar
pectin
starch
tapioca (a form of starch)
Regards
af
vijay kumar
Yes that's essentially how I make it. ALthough, with a yogurt maker, it makes
it a cinch to keep it at a constant temperature. But bringing it to a boil
first is essential. After it cools to about 100 deg F [ warm to touch, pot],
stir in 1 tablespoon of previous yogurt[ perfectly pureed]. Adding 1 cup of
yougurt is too much. Leave it overnight in a warm place such as an oven
preheated to warm, then turned off. The yogurt maker [ Salton used to sell
these a few years ago] has the perfect warm environment.
In article <50tmpt$8...@sjx-ixn6.ix.netcom.com>, jgra...@ix.netcom.co says...
vijay kumar
In article <5105oc$i...@dfw-ixnews8.ix.netcom.com>, jgra...@ix.netcom.co says...
>
>Incidentally, I bought Nancy's yogurt today and verified the
>ingrediants: no starch, pectin or geletin. But it still had the stiff
>custard-like consistency.
>
>
>Does anyone remember how yoplait was when it first came out? It was
>sort of like the liquid yogurt drink. Thick but runny. Now its goopy
>like instant pudding.
Dont know the answer to this one.
>
>Also, does anyone know how to make the sweet Indian yogurt
>drink(lassi)?
Lassi is made by blending yogurt in a blender,blended to a froth, adding
sugar/honey/sweetener for the seet version. Add salt, curry leaves, cilantro,
lemon/lime juice for the non-sweet version.
>What about the fizzy-minty persian versian (doogh)?
I beleive that this is the same as non-sweet Lassi except with seltzer/soda
added for additonal fizz. You may skip curry leaves, cilantro.
Charleen Bunjiovianna
Hey, Vijay!
In article <515kjv$m...@nntp1.best.com>, vijay kumar <vku...@best.com> wrote:
>
>Lassi is made by blending yogurt in a blender,blended to a froth, adding
>sugar/honey/sweetener for the seet version. Add salt, curry leaves, cilantro,
>lemon/lime juice for the non-sweet version.
If we're going to talk about lassi, what about raita? And what is raita
supposed to be, anyway? I have seen it labelled as "salad dressing" in
an Indian buffet, but I thought raita was intended as a side dish whose
palliative effect counteracts those mouth-searing biriyanis.
I have even had raita that was undeniably sweet, which was strange because
I thought it was supposed to be savory.
Charleen
--
Do you know what a cadogan is? URL: http://www.diadem.com
Rob McNicholas
In article <afurst-1009...@taozer.vip.best.com> afu...@ccgate.dp.beckman.com (Allen Furst) writes:
In article <ww4k9u2...@test-kiosk.eecs.berkeley.edu>,
ro...@test-kiosk.eecs.berkeley.edu (Rob McNicholas) wrote:
> I'm not sure that I agree that there is a direct relationship between
> fat content and thickness. I've recently started buying Brown Cow
> Yogurt, which is made with whole milk, possibly unhomogenized ("the
> yogurt with the cream on top"), and it is quite thin. I poured some
> out into my bowl this morning. (But it is also quite yummy.)
>
> There are no thickeners listed in the ingredients.
Look again, Rob. I know I've checked out Brown Cow, and it is thickened
(possibly not the unflavored).
Any of the following qualify as stuff added for no purpose save to thicken:
gelatin
agar
pectin
starch
tapioca (a form of starch)
Regards
af
---------
Hi Allen,
Well, I thought I might have been mistaken, so I did check again this
morning. The product is "Brown Cow Farms All Natural Whole Milk
Yogurt - Maple" (sweetened with maple syrup), and here is the complete
ingredient list:
Ingredients: Pasteurized whole milk, Pure Maple Syrup, Live, Active
cultures (L. Buluaricus, S. Thermophilus, L. Acidophilus Bifidus).
So, no thickeners appear to be present. Perhaps they've changed their
ingredients since last you checked?
-rob
P.S. For completeness sake, and in case anyone wants to verify this:
Brown Cow Farm
3810 Delta Fair Blvd
Antioch, CA 94509
510/757-9209
Brandy Schweiss
In article <ww4hgp4...@test-kiosk.eecs.berkeley.edu>,
Rob McNicholas <ro...@test-kiosk.eecs.berkeley.edu> wrote:
>Well, I thought I might have been mistaken, so I did check again this
>morning. The product is "Brown Cow Farms All Natural Whole Milk
>Yogurt - Maple" (sweetened with maple syrup), and here is the complete
>ingredient list:
>
> Ingredients: Pasteurized whole milk, Pure Maple Syrup, Live, Active
> cultures (L. Buluaricus, S. Thermophilus, L. Acidophilus Bifidus).
>
>So, no thickeners appear to be present. Perhaps they've changed their
>ingredients since last you checked?
I recently checked Brown Cow too, but only the non-fat which is
what my housemate regularly gets, and it contains both pectin and
tapioca. At least the fruit flavors do -- the vanilla contained
only pectin as a thickener. I suspect they do their non-fat and
whole milk differently.
-Brandy
vijay kumar
Raita is a side dish and is indeed meant for cooling you off. No, it is not a
salad dressing-- this concept is foreign to India. The only salad that is
sometimes eaten is Romaine lettuce with lemon/lime sprinkled on.
Raita is pureed yogurt, with any of the following added:
Cucumbers cubed, tomatoes, onions-- plus any other crunchy vegetable.
Spices, such as ground cumin, black pepper, paprika etc.
Garnish with cilantro.
Of course everything should be cold. Enjoy.
In article <516dl2$c...@shellx.best.com>, char...@best.com says...
Allen Furst
In article <517pk1$o...@soda.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU>,
bra...@soda.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU (Brandy Schweiss) wrote:
My "checking protocol" was to go into Country Sun, a health food store,
and look at every brand of yogurt. As soon as I saw one of the thickeners,
I wrote off the whole brand. So it could well be that some of the flavors
or varieties are natural. I know that Nancy's is unthickened when
unflavored, but has artificial stuff added when flavored. The same is true
for Trader Joe.
af
Joe Petolino
>My "checking protocol" was to go into Country Sun, a health food store,
>and look at every brand of yogurt. As soon as I saw one of the thickeners,
>I wrote off the whole brand. So it could well be that some of the flavors
>or varieties are natural. I know that Nancy's is unthickened when
>unflavored, but has artificial stuff added when flavored. The same is true
>for Trader Joe.
It took me a while of reading this thread before I picked up the
thickeners=unnatural implication. Could someone explain why fruit flavoring
is a "natural" additive to yogurt but starch isn't? Just curious.
-Joe
Allen Furst
In article <51c6s2$j...@engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM>, peto...@joe.Eng.Sun.COM
(Joe Petolino) wrote:
OK. Your point is well taken. My arbitrary choice.
af
Robert Lauriston
Is the cream part on top thicker than the rest?
Rob McNicholas wrote:
>
> I'm not sure that I agree that there is a direct relationship between
> fat content and thickness. I've recently started buying Brown Cow
> Yogurt, which is made with whole milk, possibly unhomogenized ("the
> yogurt with the cream on top"), and it is quite thin. I poured some
> out into my bowl this morning. (But it is also quite yummy.)
>
> There are no thickeners listed in the ingredients.
>
> -rob