7 things you didn’t know about skyr yogurt: from sagas to Scandi Santas
The famous Icelandic yogurt has been enjoyed for hundred of years, maybe even thousands
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Maybe you’ve never heard of Arla Skyr yogurt. Maybe you’ve tried it once or twice, or maybe there’s always a pot in your fridge, ready to grab when you need a pick-me-up or the perfect breakfast. Whatever your knowledge of skyr, we can pretty much promise you won’t know all the fascinating things about this delicious treat, and its history. Seriously, we’re talking sport, we’re talking medieval sagas, and we’re even talking naughty mini Santas that steal skyr at Christmas. We told you you’d learn something new…
Read on to find out more about your new favourite yogurt.
It’s pronounced…
The name is pronounced skeee-yur (with a bit of a trill on the ‘r’). A bit like ‘skier’, as in, someone going downhill on a couple of planks. Now the poll makes more sense to you right?!
If you still have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s a slightly odd video of someone (or something, we still can’t tell whether this is a machine or not) pronouncing it for you. Maybe listen with the lights on… or maybe it’s just us that finds this video a little unsettling.
Arla Skyr yogurt is high protein, fat free and packed with important nutrients –
it’s sometimes called the Viking Superfood
If you’ve tried Arla Skyr yogurt and you’re wondering how it’s so thick, that’ll be the amount of milk used! Skyr is made using four times the amount of milk compared to many standard yogurts. If you haven’t already tried Arla Skyr yogurt, you need to, and then you’ll already know why it’s so deliciously thick.
On top of that, Arla Skyr is high in protein, has a reduced sugar content, is made from all natural ingredients, and is fat free. If you haven’t tried Arla Skyr before and you’re wondering how it’s different to Greek yogurt, skyr is thicker and less tangy.
It’s so old, it’s mentioned in medieval sagas
You might have only heard about skyr in recent years, but it’s REALLY OLD. It’s so old in fact, skyr is mentioned in medieval sagas. That’s right, skyr has been part of Icelandic culture for more than a thousand years. There are suggestions that it perhaps originated in Norway, but then moved around Scandinavia, fell out of fashion in Norway, and lived on to become the delicious treat it still is today.
We're very intrigued to know what skyr looked or tasted like 1,000 years ago. There aren’t any recipes or descriptions that have survived, just the mentions among tales of family feuds and heroics. If you really want to delve deeper, you’ll find skyr mentions in the Ljósvetninga Saga, Egil’s Saga and Grettis Saga, among others. You can't say that about all yogurts…
Where does the name ‘skyr’ come from?
The word ‘skyr’ is apparently an old Norse word that means either thick OR thin milk, and it’s also apparently related to the English word ‘shear’ (to cut!), as the dairy is split into the liquid whey and the thick yummy skyr.
Naughty mini Santas steal skyr at Christmas
Yes, you read that correctly. Skyr yogurt is part of Icelandic cultural tradition! The Yule Lads (which does sound a bit like some rowdy football supporters) also known as the Yulemen or Jólasveinar, are a group of 13 naughty mini Santas that play lots of tricks around Christmastime, as well as giving out sweets and gifts (or rotten potatoes if you’ve been bad!). Each Yule Lad plays a different trick. One spies on children to look for things to steal, one uses a long hook to steal meat (terrifying), and the eighth Yule Lad, Skyrgámur, aka the ‘skyr gobbler’, steals skyr from people’s kitchens!
Some say eating skyr is the reason Iceland is good at sport
Could it be a myth, could it be cold hard fact? Honestly, we don't know. But it’s quite fun to speculate that Iceland’s sporting success could be entirely down to eating skyr yogurt. Protein is very important for athletic performance, after all…!
Could we also claim that skyr is the reason why Iceland is so good at the Eurovision song contest? (ok, so they’ve never actually won, but they’ve come second twice. And in Eurovision terms, that’s pretty good!)
You can use Arla Skyr yogurt in everything
Deliciously thick Arla Skyr yogurt is one seriously versatile treat. Whether you just want a pick me up at any point of the day, a nutritious and tasty breakfast, or to add it to a huge number of savoury and sweet recipes, honestly, there’s not much you can’t do with it. It’s the perfect base for breakfast smoothies, you can top it with lovely fruit and granola, make it into a dressing for your eggs, add some to soup, make pancakes with it, use it in curries, marinades or dips. The options are endless, and we’d love to know how you use your Arla Skyr.
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Comments (14)
Love those naughty mini santas 😂😂
That might be my favourite fact 😂! I'm also a bit sad we don't have naughty mini Santas running around in the UK.
😂😂😂 me too!
My breakfast go-to! Makes an excellent smoothie bowl FYI 👌.
Funny you should mention smoothie bowls... #staytuned!
I'm going to see if I can find this here in California.
Sure you can
I need to get to the store and see if I can find any. Of course... If it's sold in an american store, it will be pumped full of chemicals and sugars to the point that the only part of it that will be Skyr is the label.
Haha, American's love the sugar, but I don't think it will be pumped full of chemicals/sugars - Skyr has no artificial ingredients 🙂
Skyr in a protein smoothie... yum 👌