History of Yogurt.pptx

History of Yogurt

The history of yogurt follows that of milk, which is its source ingredient. The fermented milk is called yoğurt in Turkish, which is taken from the root word yoğurmak, meaning “to knead or mould,” according to Prof. Dr. Ayşe Baysal in “Yogurt: A Globalizing Turkish Food,” published on the Turkish Cultural Foundation website.

When milking animals, the process of fermenting dairy became an integral part of it. In Prof. Baysal’s article, historians credit the nomadic people of Central Asia for developing fermented milk products for easy desserts such as yogurt. “In Central Asia, where summertime temperatures reach 40 C (105 F), they noticed that milk soured/clabbered after a short time.” the thick and smooth stuff that rises to the top were then strained and made into cheese, after which yogurt making, with its tangy goodness gourmet recipes, was developed.

Back then, “yogurt was made and stored in animal skins, or in wooden or earthen vessels. Yogurt was also placed in an animal skin, known as a tuluk, and churned with a wooden implement made especially for the purpose to make butter,” writes professor Baysal. As the Turks travelled the world, so did the production of yogurt spread in countries such as “Anatolia, the Caucasus, Russia, and the countries of East and Central Europe, as well as China and India.” The Turkish immigrants’ yogurt making tradition reached North America in the 18th century but did not yet flourish large-scale.

But it is only in 1919 when industrial yogurt making was introduced, in Barcelona, Spain. It is attributed to Isaac Carasso in 1919 whose yogurt company was called Danone, named after his son Daniel, according to the Dairy Farmers of Canada website. That son, Daniel Carasso, together with Juan Metzger “took over a small yogurt factory in the Bronx, New York” in the 1940s. It became known as Dannon in the United States.

Yogurt became even more popular as the health food culture gained ground from the 1950s onwards. Now we have a wide range of yogurts to choose from, including products like frozen yogurts and yogurt pops. Also, with Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes becoming known in the food world outside of their countries of origin, so did the yogurt-based dishes in their cuisines.

Yogurt Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies