All About That Yogurt
Bulgarians are a proud nation. Among the many things they take pride in are their history, nature, and language, as well as their food and alcohol. But while some of these things might be up for debate in terms of origin, there is one thing that everyone knows for a fact is specific to the country. And that is Bulgarian yogurt. Ask any Bulgarian to say what they think is representative of their country and they will most likely mention their yogurt. This food has become so crucial to the Bulgarian identity that it’s now a part of almost every meal they eat.
Bulgarian yogurt, or “sour milk” as they call it, has been around for quite a while. According to the Voice of London, it dates back as far as Thracian times, when sour milk was made from carrying sheep’s milk in a lambskin bag around the person’s waist, their body heat fermenting it. Nowadays, yogurt is produced on a much larger scale, moving from small independent farmers to big dairy factories.
Mass Production of Yogurt
Ivaylo Kolov, who has been working in the dairy industry for the last 30 years, explains the process of factory-made yogurt. He is currently an employee at one of the main producers of yogurt in Bulgaria- Parshevitsa.
Kolov says that they get their cow’s milk from dairy farms and transport it to their factory via tank trucks. After arriving at the factory, the milk is cooled and then pasteurized at a temperature of 97–98 degrees Celsius and left to rest for at least 30 minutes, which is when most of the bacteria die. Then, it’s cooled at a temperature of 44 degrees Celsius and the starter culture is added to it, which is the bacteria Lactobacillus Bulgaricus, as well as Streptococcus Thermophilus.
After all of this, the yogurt is packaged, sealed, and left to rest for somewhere between three and five hours (depending on the starter culture) at the same temperature of 44 degrees Celsius. The yogurt is then cooled once again and is ready for distribution. Parshevitsa makes about 10 tons of yogurt per day on average, and Kolov says the longevity of a factory-made yogurt is between 10 and 20 days.
Homemade Yogurt
Kolov, who also has experience in making yogurt at home, says that the process is much simpler than the one at the factory. “If you look at how a Bulgarian grandma would make yogurt, she will usually get the milk of a sheep or a goat, not a cow,” he says. Then there is the choice of either boiling the milk or adding the starter culture right away. However, if the milk is boiled, the yogurt will last longer. Since you can’t buy the actual starter culture for yourself, Kolov says people use a spoonful of a previous batch of yogurt they made, or they just buy yogurt from the store and mix some of it in with their milk. The jar of yogurt is then covered with a cloth overnight and ready to eat in the morning. However, since the environment isn’t as sanitary as the one in the factory, homemade yogurt only lasts for a few days.
Health Benefits
When asked if he thinks traditional Bulgarian yogurt can help prevent diseases, Kolov says that it’s entirely possible. “The bacteria are known all over the world, the starter culture itself has many benefits. It’s good for the stomach. My boss, for example, drinks just the starter culture. He even drinks it with his rakija,” says Kolov. In fact, it is because of these supposed benefits that Bulgarian yogurt became popular in the first place.
As mentioned by doctor Ivaylo Markov in a 2017 interview for Farmhopping, at the beginning of the 20th century, the Ukrainian microbiologist Ilya Mechnikov was looking into what affected aging. In his research, he found that dairy foods were good for the digestive system and, eventually, aging. He based this on the huge part that dairy plays in Bulgarians’ diet and the large number of people over 100 years old in the country. However, he had no concrete proof to support it.
The Bulgarian researcher Stamen Grigorov, who was a student at the time, gave an example with the elderly people in his hometown, Tran, and their yogurt-based diet. Then, in 1905, Grigorov found the two bacteria Lactobacillus Bulgaricus and Streptococcus Thermophiles, which are specific to the milk fermentation process in Bulgaria. Mechnikov later claimed that the two Bulgarian bacteria were the best when it came to treating digestive diseases. Soon after that, Bulgaria became well-known for its yogurt and the longevity of its people. To this day, the effects of Lactobacillus Bulgaricus and Streptococcus Thermophiles are being studied.
Even if the benefits of Bulgarian yogurt haven’t been scientifically proven yet, many still enjoy it for its unusual sour taste and creamy texture. Bulgarians love their yogurt so much, that there is even a museum dedicated to it, located near the late doctor Grigorov’s home. There is also a yearly Yogurt Festival in Grigorov’s hometown, along with two other Bulgarian towns, Razgrad and Momchilovtsi.
For When You’re Hungry
And, for those who want to try out a traditional Bulgarian dish that contains this “sour milk”, Kolov decided to share the recipe for his favorite summer soup, tarator.
Ingredients: one cucumber, one small container of yogurt, a cup and a half of cold water, a sprig of dill, two-three cloves of garlic, and a tablespoon of olive oil.
Preparation: Mix the water and the yogurt well, grate the cucumber and add it to the mixture, along with the olive oil. After that, you add the finely chopped dill and garlic and salt the soup to taste. This recipe should be enough to serve two people. Enjoy!
Mihaela Miteva is a Journalism and Mass Communication student at the American University in Bulgaria. She grew up surrounded by dairy and eats yogurt with almost every meal.
