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FIL MJOLK: THE VERSATILE SWEDISH YOGURT
FIL MJOLK: THE VERSATILE SWEDISH YOGURT
Fresh low-fat milk is a great food for most young children, who produce the lactase enzyme that breaks down the lactose in regular milk, but most adults except for about 70% of those from European stock lose this capability and are "lactose intolerant." They experience gas, bloating, or discomfort from many dairy foods. Since "every body needs milk," how can most adults have the benefits of milk without the gas? Consume fermented milk products. Fermentation of milk converts most but not all of the lactose to lactic acid. I call fil "the adults' milk."
When most people think of yogurt they think of the supermarket shelves loaded with a staggering array of flavored regular yogurts. (I seldom see a cup of plain yogurt at my local supermarket.) It is outrageous to take a healthful food and make it a junk food by loading each cup with 7 to 10 teaspoons of a sugar often of the worst type, i.e., high fructose corn syrup.
For years I made plain yogurt until I discovered matsoni or Caspian Sea yogurt, fiili (a Finish yogurt), and fil mjolk (a Swedish yogurt). All three are fermented on the counter top at room temperature and are a little milder than regular Bulgarian yogurt. Matsoni and fiili have a consistency similar to egg whites. At first I only made fil to drink. Then I found that I could use fil in the same ways that I was using the other yogurts, so I dropped them and use fil exclusively.
When you ferment milk with the fil culture, it "sets" into a custard that is a little lighter than the regular yogurt. When you stir it well, it becomes a thick liquid like buttermilk. Its taste is similar to but a bit milder than buttermilk, and I think it's better tasting.
Americans under-exercise and overeat with a diet of too much animal fat, high glycemic starch, and sugars. We need to eat more fruit and vegetables, a moderate amount of whole grain products, and healthful dairy products, and that is where yogurts fit in.
The case for the health benefits of yogurts and other "live" fermented milk products rests partly on the alleged benefits of probiotics, which are "live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amount confer a health benefit on the host (FAO 2001)."
In Health Benefits Probiotics: Good-for-Your Gut Bugs Laurine Brown, Illinois Wesleyan University, says, "The strongest evidence supports probiotics to treat diarrhea and constipation, including rotaviris infections in children (using Lactobacillus GG, L.reuteri, B.bifidum, S. thermophilus), Clostridium difficile-induced diarrhea in elderly, and antibiotic-induced and traveler's diarrhea. L.acidophilus and bifidus milk have helped relieve constipation in elderly. L. salivarious and L. johnsonii may inhibit H. pylori bacteria associated with stomach ulcers. Lactobacilli bacteria in fermented dairy products, like yogurt, aid dairy digestion in people with lactose intolerance by delivering some lactase enzyme to the intestines. Lactobacilli also reduce recurrence of vaginal yeast and bacterial infections, possibly by acidifying genital areas. As it ferments in foods like yogurt or cheese, bifidobacteria nourishes by synthesizing some vitamins (especially B-complex), acidifying the gut which enhances absorption of minerals like calcium and magnesium, and releasing enzymes that digest protein and fats. Other benefits? Certain probiotics may boost immune response, curb allergies and baby eczema, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, protect from colon or bladder cancer, and even ward off tooth decay. Getting a daily dose of probiotics simply makes good health sense."
For the health benefits of yogurt go to Live, Active and Probiotic: The Yogurt Culture by Pat Kendall, Ph.D., R.D., Food Science and Human Nutrition Specialist, at Colorado State University Extension.
For a conservative discussion of the health benefits of probiotics see Health benefits of taking probiotics, from the Harvard Medical School, which says, "Health benefits are strain-specific, and not all strains are necessarily useful, so you may want to consult a practitioner familiar with probiotics to discuss your options."
I can say for sure that the use of antibiotics has had detrimental effects on my bowel function on several occasions. I am unable to say what part of the recovery can be attributed to probiotics, which I use in abundance, but even if fermented milk products have no probiotic effect, I would still consume them for their nutritional benefits (primarily high quality protein and calcium) and their taste and consistency.
Fermentation is the process in which cells obtain energy by the breakdown of simple sugars in the absence of oxygen. In the production of yogurt and buttermilk milk sugar (lactose) is converted to lactic acid, which gives the product a pleasant acidic taste and inhibits spoilage bacteria. (Spoilage bacteria convert the casein in milk to nasty compounds.) Lactic acid bacteria only coagulate casein producing whey and curds. The fact that fermented milk products keep better than fresh milk is one reason that yogurt is popular in many primitive cultures.
A fermenting bacterium that is common in the environment is Lactobacillus acidophilus. It converts lactose and other simple sugars to lactic acid only, unlike some of it's related species as in kefir that convert lactose to ethanol alcohol, acetic acid, and carbon dioxide.
On the farm in my youth fermentation was used to preserve several foods and give them a special taste. We separated the milk and held the cream in a "cream can" where it quickly soured from wild lactic acid bacteria in the environment and enabled us to hold the cream for a week without refrigeration before taking it to a creamery. We also churned some of the sour cream to make our butter. The cream was about 35% butterfat, so 65% was milk that fermented to become buttermilk. My mother also made cottage cheese from naturally fermented milk held in the warming oven above the stove.
We also made sauerkraut by fermenting sliced cabbage with the naturally occurring bacteria, some of which were Lactobillus acidophilus. The pickling process that we used to make dill pickles was also a fermentation process in which the cucumbers were fermented in brine to which dill stalks were added. We made our own vinegar by fermenting apple juice. The fermentation could produce "hard cider" from alcohol-producing yeast, or if acetic acid bacteria found their way into the juice, they produced vinegar (acetic acid). The vinegar included a cloudy looking "mother" (colonies of acetic acid bacteria) at the bottom of the fermentation vessel.
I obtained a fresh fil starter from GEM Cultures. See Self Renewing Dairy Cultures. I prefer a fresh starter because it is more dependable than dry cultures. One can either use instant non-fat dry milk powder or non-instant, which is harder to mix with water without using a blender.
To make fil, I put one cup of starter from my last batch in a 2-quart jar, add a quart of instant non-fat milk powder, and fill the jar with sterile water (boiled and cooled to room temperature). When the jar is half empty, I start a second jar. (I bought two half-gallon jars of artichoke hearts from Costco to get the wide-mouthed jars I wanted.) I start the process at noon, and the next morning it has usually set like a "light custard" at least at the top of the jar. I lower a long spoon into the jar and move it across the bottom with the face open to see if it has set at the bottom. If it hasn't, I stir the contents, and about three hours later I check it again. If it has fully set, I stir it and put it in the fridge. The trick is to stop the fermentation before the whey starts to separate out and the custard coagulates and gets "grainy" (small lumps). Be aware that if the kitchen warms up, the fil will ferment faster. If at the end of the day, the fil has only started to set, put it in the fridge and take it out in the morning to continue the fermentation. You don't want it to get to the right point in the middle of the night. You vary the thickness of the fil by changing the amount of milk powder used. I like it thick, so I use 1 quart per half gallon.
To make crème fraiche or European clotted cream, use half-'n-half for the milk.
Breakfast
As your grandmother told you, it's very important to have a good nutritious breakfast that will keep you going until lunch without the desire for a doughnut break. For decades I have cooked oatmeal with the addition of raisins and tofu for breakfast. Oats reduce cholesterol and slow digestion, but they don't produce colon bulk and speed transit time as the other grains do. We need a multi-grain cereal such as Bob's Red Mill Five grain cereal.
I also started making granola with mostly oats and reduced oil and sugar. I mixed it with yogurt and chopped fresh fruit, which is a good breakfast but still high in sugar and fat. Finally, I discovered Bob's Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli. Muesli (/mewz-lee/) is a mixture of uncooked oatmeal and other flaked grains plus various fruits, nuts, and seeds but no added sugar or fat. This may sound like bird feed, but it's tasty enough that I sometimes snack on it right out of the package with nothing added.
I also found that I could make my own muesli by mixing old-fashioned oatmeal (or oats that I flake with my machine), flaked wheat, rye, and barley, and sunflower seed, chopped walnuts, raisins, chopped dates, and chopped dried prunes or "dried plums" as they are now euphemistically called.
For one serving of muesli I combine 1/2 cup of muesli mixed with 1/4 cup of apple juice and microwave it one minute and stir and let cool for a few minutes. (I don't want any unabsorbed juice.) I then mix in 1/2 cup of fil and put slices of banana or other fresh fruit on top.
I looked for muesli in my supermarket, and they had many dozens of processed (mostly sugar-laden) cereals but no muesli. It's too simple to make and too much of an adult cereal to interest food processors.
If you prefer pancakes for breakfast, you can use fil in the place of buttermilk in the batter.
Lunch
How is this for a good healthful lunch: a tuna salad or sardine sandwich on 100% whole wheat bread, a green salad, and a glass of fil? Fil is great with a sandwich and easier to prepare than soup.
Dinner
Fil is a great food beverage because of its pleasant tangy taste that clears the palate like a dry wine. I have a glass every night with dinner.
I make a dressing for coleslaw with vinegar, sugar, and mayonnaise with an equal measure of fil to reduce the fat and add flavor. I also add fil to sauces.
To make a good vegetable dip, mix 1 part mayonnaise with 2 parts fil and add herbs such as dill weed or Italian herb seasoning and maybe some fresh minced garlic or garlic powder to taste. This also makes a good ranch dressing.
Fil is also great for making a delicious, nutritious smoothy. Simply blend fil with a fruit and add other favorite things like nutmeg and honey or stevia or Splenda.
Yochee is yogurt with the whey drained off. To make yochee from regular yogurt, simply drain it is by putting the yogurt in a coffee filter and cone over a container, cover, and refrigerate for a day or two. Alternatively, you can buy a nice commercial yochee maker, see Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker.
To make yochee from fil, I put 1/4 cup of fil in a pint far, add one cup of milk powder, and fill the jar with sterile water cooled to room temperature. At bedtime I place the jar in the cold oven and turn on the oven light to warm the oven. In the morning I check the fermentation progress. When the whey separates out at the bottom, it is time to take the jar out of the oven and put it in the fridge. When it is cold, I put the fil in a strainer over a suitable container, and put it back in the fridge for a day to drain. The curd or yochee is then ready to put in a container and ready to use. For a snack I like to spread yochee on a graham cracker, or for hors d'oeuvres I spread it on a gourmet cracker and sprinkle some dill weed or Italian herb seasoning on the yochee.
You don't have to be a Swede to enjoy fil. Trust me; it's a great food and beverage!
Your feedback will be welcome. Send an e-mail message to me, Bob Parvin: bandcparvinXhotmail.com (Substitute @ for X. I'm trying to hide my address from spammers.)