Culture shock in switch to DIY yoghurt

By Victoria Plum

I had a little yoghurt culture, nothing would it bear, but lots of lovely yoghurt, each day of the year.

Many years ago I was given a yoghurt plant to produce my own yoghurt. It was a culture, slightly yeast-like, and looked a bit like cauliflower curds, perhaps a little rubbery in texture, but you don’t eat that bit of it.

The routine was to feed it milk, leave it to work and the next day strain it through a sieve, drink the result and feed the culture with more milk for the following day.

The flavour was sharp: I always liked it and if you had a sweet tooth you could add a little sugar or fruit.

Anyway, time passed and I became aware of other yoghurt cultures owned by friends, sometimes involving special gadgets that you might activate in your airing cupboard or with heated units.

And the flavour of these yoghurts? I thought they seemed a bit dull and boring, not as tasty as mine.

So time passed (45 years actually) and many sorts of yoghurt later, last week I was given some kefir (pictured above in a glass jug) – a wonder food: if you include it in your diet you can live forever. It looks a bit like cauliflower curds, perhaps a little rubbery in texture and – you know the rest.

So I didn’t know it was kefir all those years ago and I am so pleased to renew my relationship with it. It is delicious and in this warm weather it is multiplying and working well.

For thousands of years it was, and probably still is, used by nomadic people in many regions of the world when the “grains” would perhaps be dried for ease of transport, and then, when there might be a surplus of milk, the grains would be activated, making a useful product and indeed preserving the milk for a short while.

The August meeting of Reepham & District Gardening Club changed from the traditional summer show (perhaps we will be back to “normal” by next year?) to a real, but socially distanced outing to Dale Farm at Dereham, courtesy of Graham Watts, who gave a talk about his interesting garden a year or two ago.

See the gardening club website for information on future meetings.

Photo: Tina Sutton