Strained yogurt

Strained yogurt, Greek or Greek-style yogurt, yogurt cheese, sack yogurt, kerned yogurt or labneh is yogurt that has been strained to remove most of its whey, resulting in a thicker consistency than normal unstrained yogurt, while still preserving the distinctive sour taste of yogurt. Strained yogurt is made from milk, with the intermediate product being classic yoghurt, but it is concentrated by straining liquid off with cheese cloth or similar technique. In Europe and North America, it is often made from low-fat or fat-free cow's milk. In Iceland a similar product named skyr is made.
Strained yogurt is usually marketed in North America as "Greek yogurt" and in the United Kingdom as "Greek-style yoghurt", though strained yogurt is also widely eaten in Levantine, Eastern Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Central Asian, South Asian, and Eastern European cuisines, where it is often used in cooking, as it curdles less readily when cooked. It is used in a variety of dishes, cooked or not, savory or sweet. Straining makes even non-fat yogurt varieties thicker, richer, and creamier than unstrained. Since straining removes the whey, more milk is required to make strained yogurt, increasing the production cost. In Western Europe and the United States, 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 US$4.1 billion American yogurt industry came from the strained yogurt sub-segment, typically marketed as "Greek yogurt". In the US, there is no legal or standard definition of Greek yogurt, and yogurt thickened with thickening agents, typically pectin, locust bean gum, starches or guar gum, may also be sold as "Greek yogurt".

Name

In English, strained yogurt only became well known outside of immigrant communities in the 1980s, when it was imported into the United Kingdom by the Greek company Fage, under the brand name "Total". Starting in the 1980s, essentially all yogurt in the UK called "Greek yogurt" was strained yogurt made in Greece.

Geographical variations

Central Asia

In the cuisines of many Iranian and Turkic people, a type of strained yogurt called chaka
or süzme 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.

The Middle East and the Mediterranean

Strained yogurt is made by straining the liquid out of yogurt until it takes on a consistency similar to a soft cheese. Strained yogurt is known as labneh or labaneh in the countries of the Levant, Armenia, Egypt, and the Arabian Peninsula. Labaneh bil zayit, 'labaneh in oil', consists of small balls of dry labneh, sometimes covered with herbs or spices, kept in olive oil, where it can be preserved for over a year. As it ages it turns more sour. The flavor depends largely on the sort of milk used: labneh from cow's milk has a rather mild flavor. The quality of the olive oil topping also influences the taste of labneh. Milk from camels and other animals is used in labneh production in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries.
Labneh is a common mezze dish and sandwich ingredient, especially in the Levant. A common sandwich in the Middle East consists of labneh, mint, za'atar, and olive on flatbread.
It is a common breakfast dip. It is usually eaten 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. Bedouin also produce a dry, hard labneh that can be stored; strained labneh is pressed in cheesecloth between two heavy stones and later sun-dried. Dry labneh may be mixed with khubz, water, animal fat, and salt, and rolled into balls.

The Levant

Labneh is the main ingredient in jameed, which is used in mansaf, the national dish of Jordan.
In Lebanon and Palestine, labaneh is rolled into balls and preserved by storing them in olive oil; the balls are flavored by coating them with herbs and spices.

Egypt

In Egypt, it is eaten with savory accompaniments such as olives and oil, and also with a sweetener such as honey, as a snack or breakfast food. Areesh cheese is a type of cheese that originated in Egypt. Arish cheese is made from yogurt heated slowly until it curdles and separates, then placed in cheesecloth to drain. It is similar in taste to ricotta.
The protein content of Areesh cheese is 17.6%. Shanklish, a fermented cheese, is made from areesh cheese.

Cyprus

As in Greece, strained yogurt is widely used in Cypriot cuisine both as an ingredient in recipes as well as on its own or as a supplement to a dish. In Cyprus, strained yogurt is usually made from sheep's milk.

Iran

Strained yogurt in Iran is called mâst chekide and is usually used for making dips, or served as a side dish.
In Northern Iran, mâst chekide is a variety of kefir with a distinct sour taste. It is usually mixed with fresh herbs in a pesto-like purée called delal.
Yogurt is a side dish to many Iranian meals. Strained yogurt is used as dips and various appetizers with multitudes of ingredients, including cucumbers, onions, shallots, fresh herbs, spinach, walnuts, zereshk, and garlic. The best-known appetizers are spinach or eggplant borani, mâst-o-khiâr with cucumber, spring onions and herbs, or mâst-musir with wild shallots. Strained yogurt in Balochistan is called sheelanch and is used for making dips served with dates, or served as a side dish.

Turkey

In Turkey, strained yogurt is known as süzme yoğurt or kese yoğurdu. Water is sometimes added in the preparation of cacık that is not eaten as a meze but consumed as a beverage. Strained yogurt is used in Turkish mezes and dips such as haydari. In Turkish markets, labne is also a common dairy product, but it is different from strained yogurt; it is yogurt-based creamy cheese without salt, and is used like mascarpone.

Armenia

In Armenia, strained yogurt is called kamats matzoon. Traditionally, it was produced for long-term preservation by draining matzoon in cloth sacks.

South Asia

In South Asia, regular unstrained yogurt, made from cow or water buffalo milk, is often sold in disposable clay bowls called kulhar. Kept for a couple of hours in its clay pot, some of the water evaporates through the unglazed clay's pores. It also cools the curd due to evaporation.
True strained yogurt, called chakka, is made by draining the yogurt in a cloth. It is hung for 12 to 18 hours to allow some of the whey to drain off. This technique is frequently used in India and Pakistan. Shrikhand is a dish made with chakka, sugar, saffron, cardamom, and pureed or diced fruit and nuts mixed in; it is often eaten with poori. It is particularly common in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, where dairy producers market shrikhand in containers.
Chakka is also eaten in Pashtun-dominated regions of Pakistan with rice and meat dishes.

Southeastern Europe

Strained yogurt is used in Greek food mostly as the base for tzatziki dip and as a dessert, with honey, sour cherry syrup, or spoon sweets often served on top. A few savory Greek dishes also use strained yogurt. In Greece, strained yogurt, like yogurt in general, is traditionally made from sheep's milk. Fage International S.A. began straining cow's-milk yogurt for industrial production in Greece in 1975, when it launched its brand "Total".
In Albania, strained yogurt is called salcë kosi. Yogurt is drained in a cloth sack for a few hours to overnight. The water released from this process is called hirrë and can be used to preserve cheese or as a drink.
In Bulgaria, where yogurt is considered to be an integral part of the national cuisine, strained yogurt is called tsedeno kiselo mliako and is used in a variety of salads and dressings.
A variety of strained yogurt called basa is a traditional variety of cheese from the region of Lika in Croatia. In Serbia and North Macedonia, it is also known as kiselo mleko.

Northern Europe

A type of strained yogurt named ymer is available in Denmark. In contrast to the Greek variety, only a minor amount of whey is drained off in the production process. Ymer is traditionally consumed with the addition of ymerdrys, a mixture of roasted bread crumbs of rugbrød rye bread mixed with brown sugar. Like other types of soured dairy products, ymer is often consumed at breakfast. Strained yogurt topped with muesli and maple syrup is often served at brunch in cafés in Denmark.
Strained yogurt is known as hangop, literally meaning 'hang up' in the Netherlands. It is a traditional dessert. Hangop may also be made using buttermilk.

United Kingdom

In March 2020, it was reported that strained yogurt makes up 28% of the value of the "natural yogurt" category in the United Kingdom. In the UK, strained yogurt can only be marketed as "Greek" if made in Greece. Strained cow-milk yogurt not made in Greece is typically sold as "Greek style" or "Greek recipe" for marketing reasons, typically at lower prices than yogurt made in Greece. Among "Greek style" yogurts, there is no distinction between those thickened by straining and those thickened through additives. However, if the yogurt contains anything other than lactic products, food enzymes and micro-organism cultures a list of ingredients is required on packaging. Strained yogurt with added fruit, honey, etc., and yogurt with reduced or no fat content, may be described as Greek-style.
In September 2012, Chobani UK began to sell yogurt made in the United States as "Greek yogurt". FAGE, a company that manufactures yogurt in Greece and sells it in the United Kingdom, filed a passing-off claim against Chobani in the UK High Court, claiming that UK consumers understood "Greek" to refer to the country of origin ; Chobani's position was that consumers understood "Greek" to refer to a preparation. Both companies relied on surveys to prove their point; FAGE also relied on the previous industry practice of UK yogurt makers not to label their yogurt as "Greek yogurt". Ultimately Mr Justice Briggs found in favor of FAGE and granted an injunction preventing Chobani from using the name "Greek yogurt". In February 2014, this decision was upheld on appeal. Greece may now seek to protect the marketing term, "Greek yogurt", across the entire EU under protected designation of origin rules.
In May 2020, British dairy company Yeo Valley entered the market with an organic product called "Super Thick Kerned Yogurt. The "kerned yogurt" label was the first of its kind, coined in reference to an archaic Somerset term meaning "thickened", which is predominantly used in relation to dairy products.
A product called "Lindahls Kvarg" was launched in the UK by Nestlé in 2018, and described as "Sweden's No. 1 Quark". Quark is a type of high-protein strained curd cheese widely used in Swedish cooking. The company Bio-tiful launched its kefir-quark blend, containing live cultures and protein.
Since 2015, Arla has sold its own skyr product marketed as "Icelandic style yogurt".