Recipes & guides · 4 min read
What makes Bulgarian yogurt different
Thick, sharp and made with only milk and culture: what sets Bulgarian yogurt apart from most supermarket yogurt.
Ask a Bulgarian what yogurt should taste like and you will hear two things: it should be sour, and it should be made from milk and culture — nothing else.
Only milk and culture
Traditional Bulgarian yogurt (kiselo mlyako, literally "sour milk") has no thickeners, no added milk powder and no sugar. Its thickness comes from the culture and the time it is given. Many supermarket yogurts reach the same spoonable texture with added ingredients and a shorter fermentation.
The culture
The pair Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus is used for yogurt all over the world, but Bulgarian yogurt is known for strains that give a sharper, cleaner sourness. That is the taste our culture is chosen for.
Time and temperature
Bulgarian yogurt sets slowly in a warm place — traditionally overnight, under a blanket — and is then chilled. The longer, warmer set is what gives it both firmness and tang.
How it is eaten
Plain, with a spoon; stirred into soups and sauces; whisked with water and salt into ayran; or with cucumber, walnuts and dill in cold tarator. Some ideas are in our recipes.
