Ymer is a Danish soured milk product with 6 percent protein. Compared to standard yogurt, it has a thicker, creamier consistency and a higher protein content. It has a slightly buttery taste and may be very subtly fizzy due to slight carbonation from the lactic fermentation. It was launched commercially in 1930s. It is made by fermenting whole milk with the

bacterial Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were amon ...

culture Lactococcus lactis. Ymer is named after the primordial being Ymir in

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern per ...

. In 1937,

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

man E. Larsen in Hatting registered his new soured milk product as ''ymer;'' the name was then used by other dairies that began making the product. Modern Danes will usually be more familiar with ymer as the name of the dairy product than as a creature of the Norse mythology. Industrially, it is made with the help of a starter culture, which is today -- rather than full milk -- added to skimmed milk (milk of typically 0.1 % fat content). It is kept at 18 °C until the pH drops to 4.6. The serum is broken down and drained after fermentation, and cream is added to adjust the fat content. Unlike other fermented milk products, ymer is drained of its whey. That means that ymer has a higher content of solids, including

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...

, while the fat content stays at 3.5% as in whole milk. Ymer is mostly eaten for breakfasts or as a snack, but can be used in all ways as an alternative to yogurt, in desserts, dressings and baking. A traditional dessert is (''fromage'' meaning dessert cream in Danish), in which the ymer is mixed with sugar, gelatin and cream. The traditional breakfast topping is ("ymer sprinkle"), which is a mix of lightly toasted

rugbrød () is a very common form of rye bread from Denmark. usually resembles a long brown extruded rectangle, no more than 12 cm high, and 30–35 cm wide, depending on the bread pan in which it is baked. The basic ingredient is rye flour ...

breadcrumbs and brown sugar. One deciliter of ymer contains 146 kJ (35 kilocalories).

References

* Barry A. Law (Editor): Microbiology and biochemistry of cheese and fermented milk. Springer, Heidelberg 1997. * Adnan Tamime (Editor): Structure of Dairy Products. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford 2007. Fermented dairy products Danish cuisine Ymir {{denmark-cuisine-stub

See also

References