[Sca-cooks] Skyr? and intro

[Nanna Rognvaldardottir]

First: ÚlfR, I need your adress again - I seem to have deleted it. Can you
email it to my home account, nannar at isholf.is ?
>
>ISTR that Nanna has earlier posted direction for how to make the
>real thing, but you would need access to a live culture to do
>that.
>

Here is a recipe from the (uncorrected) manuscript of my forthcoming book:

Skyr
Makes around 5 pounds skyr and 5 quarts whey

Skyr has been made in Iceland since the Settlement, but the skyr of those
times was probably much thinner than it is today. Skyr was also made in
Scandinavia and variations of it are still known there, but in Iceland it
was extremely popular and most of the milk that was gathered from cows and
ewes during the summer was used for skyr-making.
Skyr is traditionally made with unpasteurized fresh skim milk, but
buttermilk may also be used. Ideally, you should use a little skyr as a
starter for the new batch but since anyone who tries to make skyr on his own
is probably doing so because skyr is unavailable, sour cream will usually
have to do. It won’t be true skyr, of course, but it should be near enough
for most uses.

10 quarts skim milk, or 8 quarts skim milk and 2 quarts buttermilk
2 heaped tablespoons skyr or sour cream
rennet (see package for instructions on how much to use)

Warm the milk up to 190°F and hold it at this temperature for 10 minutes,
taking care that the milk doesn’t scorch or come to the boil. Use a candy
thermometer to be safe. Pour the milk int a large bowl or bucket and cool it
quickly down to 100°F. If the room where you are working is very cold, the
temperature should be a few degrees higher, but it must not be too high.
Gradually dilute the starter with warm milk, until it has become so thin
that it will mix easily with the milk in the bowl. Add the rennet
(dissolved, unless it is in liquid form) and stir well.
At this stage, the milk should cool down very slowly. Place a lid on the
container and cover it with towels to retain the warmth. After 3 hours,
check the milk. It should have coagulated by now, enough to make a cut that
doesn’t close immediately. With a sharp knife that reaches to the bottom of
the container, cut a double cross into it, all the way through. Cover again
and let stand for 2-3 hours more. Check if the skyr and remove the lid if it
is well coagulated, else keep it covered a little longer. Refrigerate
overnight.
Spread a cheesecloth over a large colander and place it over a bowl. Pour or
spoon the skyr into the colander. Tie the corners of the cheesecloth
together, hang it over a bowl and let the skyr drain for 8-12 hours, until
fairly firm.
The final stage used to be to weigh the skyr down for a few hours to drain
it even further but that is rarely done now.
When the skyr is to be served, it is whipped until smooth and diluted with
milk if it is very thick. Some sugar is usually added and it is served with
more sugar and milk or a mixture of milk and cream. Berries or fruit are a
good accompaniment.

Most Icelanders eat skyr as a dessert or as a sweet breakfast or lunch dish
but it was formerly used in other ways too (stirred into soups, for
instance) and imaginative cooks have been finding new ways to use it in
later years. It can for instance be mixed with garlic, herbs and spices and
used as a dip (try making Greek tzatziki with skyr, for instance). It can be
used in breads and cakes and skyr-cakes, similar to cheesecakes, are
delicious.