Best yoghurt Europe had to offer...

Hypothesis: Not all yoghurts are made equal.

While I didn’t fly to Europe to prove this hypothesis, I sure did use our 4.5 week European honeymoon as a chance to test it.

Across 14 European cities, in nine different countries, I tasted 17 different yoghurt varieties. All varied in flavour and texture. It all started in Amsterdam, where on a rainy day I tried Zuivelhoeve Boer’N Yoghurt, while sitting on a wet bench pining for the summer I was cruelly promised but so far denied.

The tart creamy yoghurt was balanced perfectly with the sweet strawberry compote and just enough granola muesli to provide a textually pleasing crunch. All in all, my first yoghurt was a winner.


The second yoghurt in Amsterdam wasn’t as successful because it wasn’t a traditional yoghurt. Thick, incredibly sweet, with no tartness in site, I was somewhat confused by this Danone Danio Vanilla yoghurt. That was until a lovely Dutch Instagram follower kindly informed me that the photo I had posted was not traditional yoghurt, but most likely quark. Closer to a sweet cream cheese than yoghurt I was kindly told. Honest mistake – who doesn’t like something that resembles cheesecake for breakfast (when trying to be healthy)?

The next 10 were a little, while delicious, uneventful. That was until I reached Positano, on the Amalfi Coast. With its blue water, tantalising smells and narrow paths, Positano delivered my third favourite yoghurt – frozen yoghurt with fresh strawberries. Wow, it was delicious. Tart, creamy and refreshing with only one flavour – natural. None of this New York cheesecake, chocolate and coffee stuff, this was proper frozen yoghurt.


The runner up was another frozen variety, this time from Yiaourtaki in Athens. A little creamier than Positano, this frozen yoghurt had the perfect balance of tart and sweet and almost caused a rift between Mr Bball and I – we got one to share. HUGE mistake.


And the winner was…Fage Total 2% Greek Yoghurt, which I had in my Mum’s home village, Gennadi in Rhodes. Every spoonful of this creamy, perfectly tart yoghurt conjured up memories of my childhood. It was in Gennadi that my love of yoghurt showed itself. I have convinced many family members and friends to eat Fage mixed with Greek honey and cereal for breakfast when visiting Gennadi. They became as hopelessly in love with it as I, messaging me their withdraw symptoms when returning to Australia.




So there you have it. The ultimate winner was Fage Total 2%. Now if only I could get it in Adelaide. Any ideas from where? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Challenge 3 - Milo and Yoghurt - I think it's my best!

Image
My workmate elegantly put up on my blog "Milo and Yoghurt...go!" This one I had to say excited me. Everytime I eat milo I feel like a kid again. That's what I love about food, it's ability to take you back to memorable moments in your life. Even a piece of kraft single cheese on a piece of toast reminds me of all the amazing times I had at my grandma's growing up. Time at grandma's house with my cousins was always my favourite part of the school holidays. So yes, I was excited and I felt like a kid again. Growing up I used to love eating chocolate mousse, it was just beautiful. So a milo and yoghurt mousse came straight to mind. Smooth, rich and light. However milo itself isn't overly sweet and the yoghurt will make the mousse rather tart. So I thought it needed something to even out the flavour. Like lemon compliments tequila, strawberries compliment chocolate. So I thought a sweet strawberry compote would work well. In terms of visuals, I needed somethin...
Read more

Thai meatballs

Image
I think meatballs are one of the most diverse dishes of all time - cooked in tomato sauce in Italy and Greece, wrapped in flatbread in Turkey, served in hot soup in Vietnam or covered in gravy in Sweden. When done well, they are moist, delicious and a great cheap eat. When done badly they are dry and tasteless.  Lending itself to so many different creations, I like to experiment with the humble meatball. For this dish you can use traditional coconut milk however for a tangy and creamy twist, you can use yoghurt. Go with your gut.  Ingredients: 500g pork or beef 1/2inch of ginger, grated 2 cloves of garlic, crushed 1 tablespoons lime juice 1 tablespoon of crushed lemongrass 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons of coriander 1 red chili (small or ½ big chili – remove seeds if you don’t like spice) ½ teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon flour 1 tablespoons of thai paste (you can use green curry paste if you like or follow the below recipe) 3/4 cup of chicken stock ½ ...
Read more

Chocolate peanut butter balls

Image
We were going to visit family for morning tea when I had a moment of panic and realised I had nothing to take. In these situations no bake bites are my go to. They are easy, simple and need very few ingredients. Whatever is in the pantry, you can put in a mixing ball with some melted butter and chocolate and you have a quick sweet treat. That day, I was wanting to feel like a kid again so looked for ingredients that would conjure up fond childhood memories. That ingredient for me is peanut butter. Peanut butter with honey on toast was my weekend indulgence. I loved the sweet and salty combination.  So with almond biscuits in the pantry and an abundance of peanut butter at my disposal I got to work. This week’s blog recipe is chocolate peanut butter balls. What you make with things from the pantry. Recipe at justaddyoghurt.com #peanutbutter #chocolate #yoghurt #dessert A post shared by Anne Zervaas (@justaddyoghurt) on Jul 18, 2018 at 1:49am PDT Ing...
Read more