Abraham drank it. Some authorities attribute Sarah's long reproductive cycle to it. Solomon's wisdom came from is consumption of it. Yogurt, of course! Legend has it that yogurt was discovered some six thousand year ago. A camel merchant, traveling with his herd, concubines, and servants from Ur to Eridu, filled a leather bag made from the stomach of a sheep with milk. When the sun went down at the end of the day, he settled his herd and prepared to enjoy a cool drink. To his surprise, he found instead a custardy, slightly acid milk product. He further discovered that this drink, mixed with water, quenched his thirst.Bacteria contained in the bags had combined with the milk as a result of the body warmth of the camel he was riding and the heat of the sun. At nightfall, when the desert temperature dropped dramatically, it cooled with the milk and stopped the action of the bacteria. Whether or not this particular story is true is not important. This is more of less the way yogurt was discovered somewhere in the Middle East or the Balkans. Soon the nomads learned that they could make yogurt by inoculating fresh milk with a small amount of already prepared yogurt.
To make your own yogurt, boil milk, remove from heat at the boiling point, let sit 15 minutes, add 1 teaspoon of yogurt culture per cup of milk, stir, pour into cup containers, cover, place in a warm oven, turn the oven off, and let sit overnight. That is all there is to it! To Persians, yogurt is an essential food. At the end of Passover, they eat a special yogurt dish, more like a thick soup, to break the abstention from bread. But with no kosher dairies in the country, even the less observant Jews would abstain from milk, cheese, butter, and yogurt products during Passover. Thus, on the evening of the last night of Passover, yogurt would be served again.
'The Jewish Holiday Kitchen' Joan Nathan
No comments:
Post a Comment