Yet more “Greek” yogurt
As a child, I never knew why plain yogurt in Cairo, Egypt was delicious and why American yogurt (with the addition of vanilla, nuts, honey, and/or fruit) was nasty. Seems the NYTimes and my friend Knowitallliza are on to that very reason…and a little how it’s all lies stateside:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/business/media/17adco.html?src=me&ref=business
Apropos of the article above, national(istic) pride notwithstanding, I must point out that Chobani (what the hell does that mean in Greek? I don’t know!)*, Athenos (more atrociously declined Greek word roots with fun “ancient greek” font) Oikos (at least that’s a real greek word, though, since it means “house”, or, in modern Greek, more like “big name fashion designer” I wonder what it has to do with dairy) and other competitors [newsflash! Eros, always a popular Greek word, has jumped on the bandwagon of “greek” yogurt!] almost always have added thickeners. Not that there’s anything wrong with gelatin or pectin per se, but you SHOULD NOT NEED THEM in real, strained-of-its-whey yogurt. Which is all “Greek” yogurt really is. (See my previous post).
UPDATE: Ironic that Chobani, most-popular-in-the-US “greek” yogurt brand, was founded by a Turkish immigrant! http://nyti.ms/wYUO3x Could this explain the naming issues?
