Greek yogurt

Strained yogurt, Greek yogurt, yogurt cheese, or sack yoghurt is yogurt that has been strained to remove most of its whey, resulting in a thicker consistency than unstrained yogurt, while preserving yogurt's distinctive sour taste. Like many types of yogurt, strained yogurt is often made from milk that has been enriched by boiling off some of its water content, or by adding extra butterfat and powdered milk. In Europe and North America, it is often made from low-fat or fat-free milk. In Iceland, a similar product named skyr is made. Strained yogurt is generally marketed in North America as 'Greek yogurt' and in Britain as 'Greek-style yoghurt', though strained yogurt is also widely eaten in Levantine, Eastern Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Central Asian and South Asian cuisines, wherein it is often used in cooking (as it is high enough in fat content to avoid curdling at higher temperatures). Such dishes may be cooked or raw, savoury or sweet. Due to the straining process to remove excess whey, even non-fat varieties of strained yogurt are much thicker, richer, and creamier than yogurts that have not been strained. Since the straining process removes the whey, or fluid, from the milk solids, it requires substantially more plain yogurt to produce a cup of strained yogurt, so the cost to make it is increased accordingly. Thickeners, such as pectin, locust bean gum, starches or guar gum, listed in the ingredients indicate straining was not the method used to consolidate the milk solids. Marketing of Greek or Greek-style yogurt in the United States allows the use of more thickeners instead of straining, so there is little difference between the yogurt of years prior to the introduction of strained yogurt other than an increase of thickeners, even though the price is now higher for the original, unstrained products. In western Europe and the US, strained yogurt has increased in popularity compared to unstrained yogurt. Since the straining process removes some of the lactose, strained yogurt is lower in sugar than unstrained yogurt. It was reported in 2012 that most of the growth in the $4.1 billion US yogurt industry came from the strained yogurt sub-segment, typically marketed as 'Greek yogurt'. In the US there is no legal definition of Greek yogurt, and yogurt thickened with thickening agents may also be sold as 'Greek yogurt' even though it is not necessarily strained yogurt. In the cuisines of many Iranian, Baloch, and Turkic peoples (e.g. in Azerbaijani, Afghan, Tatar, Tajik, Uzbek, and other Central Asian cuisines), a type of strained yogurt called chak(k)aor suzma (Turkmen: süzme, Azerbaijani: süzmə, Kazakh: сүзбe, Kyrgyz: сүзмө, Uzbek: suzma, Uyghur: .mw-parser-output .font-uig{font-family:'UKIJ Tuz','UKIJ Nasq','UKIJ Basma','UKIJ_Mac Basma','UKIJ Zilwa','UKIJ Esliye','UKIJ Tuz Basma','UKIJ Tuz Kitab','UKIJ Tuz Gezit','UKIJ Tuz Qara','UKIJ Tuz Qara','UKIJ Tuz Tor','UKIJ Kesme','UKIJ Kesme Tuz','UKIJ Qara','UKIJ Basma Aq','UKIJ Basma Qara','UKIJ Basma Tuz','UKIJ Putuk','UKIJ Tuz Xet','UKIJ Tom Xet','UKIJ Tuz Jurnal','UKIJ Arabic','UKIJ CJK','UKIJ Ekran','UKIJ_Mac Ekran','UKIJ Teng','UKIJ Tor','UKIJ Tuz Tom','UKIJ Mono Keng','UKIJ Mono Tar','UKIJ Nokia','UKIJ SimSun','UKIJ Yanfon','UKIJ Qolyazma','UKIJ Saet','UKIJ Nasq Zilwa','UKIJ Sulus','UKIJ Sulus Tom','UKIJ 3D','UKIJ Diwani','UKIJ Diwani Yantu','UKIJ Diwani Tom','UKIJ Esliye Tom','UKIJ Esliye Qara','UKIJ Jelliy','UKIJ Kufi','UKIJ Kufi Tar','UKIJ Kufi Uz','UKIJ Kufi Yay','UKIJ Merdane','UKIJ Ruqi','UKIJ Mejnuntal','UKIJ Junun','UKIJ Moy Qelem','UKIJ Chiwer Kesme','UKIJ Orxun-Yensey','UKIJ Elipbe','UKIJ Qolyazma Tez','UKIJ Qolyazma Tuz','UKIJ Qolyazma Yantu','UKIJ Ruqi Tuz',FZWWBBOT_Unicode,FZWWHQHTOT_Unicode,Scheherazade,Lateef,LateefGR,'Microsoft Uighur','Noto Naskh Arabic';font-feature-settings:'cv50'1}сүзма‎)is consumed. It is obtained by draining qatiq, a local yogurt variety. By further drying it, one obtains qurut, a kind of dry fresh cheese. Strained yogurt in Balochistan is called 'Sheelanch' and is a vital part of the nomadic diet. It is usually used for making dips served with dates, or served as a side dish. It is also dried and preserved for winter use. Strained yogurt is known as Labneh (Labna, Labni, Lebni, or Labani - from Arabic: 'لبنة') in the Levant, Egypt, and the Arabian Peninsula. Besides being used fresh, labneh is also dried then formed into balls, sometimes covered with herbs or spices, and stored under olive oil. Labneh is a popular mezze dish and sandwich ingredient. A common sandwich in the Middle East is one of labneh, mint, thyme, and olive on pita bread. The flavour depends largely on the sort of milk used: labneh from cow's milk has a rather mild flavour. Also the quality of olive oil topping influences the taste of labneh. Milk from camels and other animals is used in labneh production in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. Bedouin also produce a dry, hard labneh (labaneh malboudeh, similar to Central Asian qurut) that can be stored. Strained labneh is pressed in cheese cloth between two heavy stones and later sun dried. This dry labneh is often eaten with khubz (Arabic bread), in which both khubz and labneh are mixed with water, animal fat, and salt, and rolled into balls. In Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, and Syria, Labneh is made by straining the liquid out of yogurt until it takes on a consistency similar to a soft cheese. It tastes like tart sour cream or heavy strained yogurt and is a common breakfast dip. It is usually eaten in a fashion similar to hummus, spread on a plate and drizzled with olive oil and often, dried mint. It is also often paired as a dip with the mixed herb blend za'atar. Labneh is also the main ingredient in jameed, which is in turn used in mansaf, the national dish of Jordan.