User:Ned Jelyazkov/Bulgarian yogurt (kiselo mlyako)

Bulgarian yogurt (kiselo mlyako) is a fermented milk product, which is obtained as a result of the progress of lactic acid fermentation in milk. Like most yogurts there are live microorganisms that are involved in the fermentation of yoghurt - Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. Each of the two bacteria have a role in the process of fermentation. The fermentation process ends in a natural way, by cooling. In several days stay warm (outside the fridge) fermentation continues, and the taste becomes unpleasantly sour.

The different yogurt
Bulgarian yogurt is kind of diary product which is similar to most of the yogurt produced on the Balkans. The difference from other Balkans yogurts is it specific taste. The main reasons of that fact are: first - the milk - Bulgaria has a great natural conditions of sheep breeding; pastures are plentiful of herbs; knowledge and skills due to strong traditions. Second - Lactobacillus bulgaricus - in general this bacteria feels great only in Bulgaria and the closer territory around the country, and here gives it's best to milk. Other difference is that the traditional Bulgarian yogurt is made of sheep's milk, while Greek's one is of goat's milk.

Origin
It would be difficult to prove unequivocally the origin of Bulgarian yogurt, but the fact that Bulgaria has a strong traditions of making yogurt. Some historians view the Balkans as the “homeland” of yogurt, regarding it as developed by the Bulgars, a semi-nomadic people who began migrating into Europe in the second century AD and eventually settled in the Balkans at the end of the seventh century. According to this view, in the 4th century B.C., people in Thrace (modern Bulgaria) consumed a fermented milk product called prokis, which later came to be called yogurt. The word yogurt is said to derive from the words for "thick" and "milk" in ancient Thracian

Modern trends and Bulgarian yogurt
Today yogurt is well known around the world and you can find it everywhere, but usually when you buy it from the store you take something like yogurt. Outside of Bulgaria, large companies use different methods to produce yogurt, often due to the difficulty to provide enough live bacteria they replaced it or put it in limited quantities. Also because of the desire of the companies yoghurt to appeal to more customers they change the taste by adding fruit and sweeteners, for example. This trend has changed significantly the taste of real yogurt, so for most people it is completely unknown.

Bulgarian yogurt around the world
Before 1990s Bulgarian yogurt was well known in former socialist countries, Middle East and Asia. After that because of the painful transition of the Bulgarian economy and agriculture, the production of Bulgarian milk and yogurt decreased dramatically at the same time because of mismanagement and a change of political priorities have been lost many of the old markets for Bulgarian yoghurt. However today Bulgarian yogurt is still very popular in Middle East and Asia. For example in Japan Bulgarian yogurt holds more than half of the consumption of yogurt in the country. It's not easy to find real Bulgarian yogurt in Western Europe and America. To the west yogurt is available as Greek style. Actually the content of this product is similar to yogurt typical not only for Greece but also for Turkey, Macedonia and Bulgaria, and still differs in its taste and health benefits of real Bulgarian yogurt.

How to make Bulgarian yogurt?
If you are in Bulgaria you just have to take some milk and to boiled it, let it cool to human body temperature, then you have to put some spoons of other Bulgarian yogurt (it depends of quantity of the milk, most popular is: a half a liter of milk - 2 soup spoons Bulgarian yogurt), next stir, cover and at the morning next day you have Bulgarian yogurt. If you are not in Bulgaria or around you may find some real Bulgarian yogurt and to frozen it so you can take when you want to produce fresh and healthy homemade Bulgarian yogurt. That's the only way because the bacteria reproduces yourself only in Bulgaria.