Freshness & Quality
Where food is concerned, ’quality’ is usually judged under the headings:
The ‘taste test’ is something we do automatically; vegan yogurt made at home has the advantage of being fresher than the shop-bought variety – freshness is the one thing that cannot be created by additives! ‘Freshness’ is the combined effect of all the qualities shown in the pie chart before they deteriorate with age or exposure to air.
All the qualities in the pie chart are to some extent a matter of personal opinion. Experimenting with adding fruit or flavourings may enhance all or none of the qualities.
7 Things you should know
1️⃣ Whey can be used to start fermentation
2️⃣ Unlike other bacteria, yogurt-forming bacteria thrive in mildly acidic conditions
3️⃣ Straining raw yoghurt ages it more quickly
4️⃣ Bacteria in the outer growing edge of a ferment (the ‘juvenile zone’) taste better than those from other parts (‘stale zones)’
5️⃣ Body-builders prize the high protein content of ‘whey flakes’ from health stores.
6️⃣ The practice of making yogurt spread along the Silk Road as far as the mediterranean, several thousand kilometres from Central Asia.
7️⃣ Carrying milk in animal skins stitched tightly together created perfect conditions for making yogurt by excluding air.
The Silk Road (200 BCE – 1500 CE)
