Ymer

Ingredients

Soured milk

• 1.5 litreswhole milk
• 3 tbspbuttermilk or live cultured milk, as starter

Ymerdrys

• 100 gdark rye bread, dried and crumbled
• 50 gdark brown sugar
• a pinch of salt

Directions

1. Warm the milk to 22°C (72°F) — barely warm. Ymer is set by a mesophilic culture that works at room temperature, and heating it to yoghurt temperature simply kills the culture you want.
2. Stir in the buttermilk, cover with a cloth and leave at room temperature for about 20 hours, until it has set and tastes cleanly sour.
3. Line a sieve with muslin, tip in the set milk without stirring, and drain in the fridge for about six hours. It should lose roughly a third of its volume as whey and end up thick but still spoonable — thicker than yoghurt, looser than a cheese.
4. Stir the drained ymer smooth and chill.
5. For the ymerdrys, spread the crumbled rye bread on a tray and toast at 160°C (320°F) for 15 minutes until dry and crisp, then cool and blitz or crush to coarse crumbs.
6. Mix the crumbs with the brown sugar and the salt. Make this the same day you use it — the sugar draws moisture from the crumbs and turns the whole thing to a damp lump within a couple of days.
7. Serve the cold ymer in bowls with a thick layer of ymerdrys scattered over at the table, so it stays crunchy.

Technique

• Room temperature, not warm. Ymer’s whole character is the mesophilic culture, and it gives a mild, clean sourness that a yoghurt culture cannot.
• Scatter the ymerdrys at the table, never in the kitchen. Stirred in ahead it goes soft within a minute.
• Keep the whey — it is pleasant cold and good in bread dough.

Substitutions

• Crème fraîche or live sour cream as the starter, both of which carry mesophilic cultures.
• Any stale dark rye for the crumbs; pumpernickel works well.

Variations

• Tykmælk is the undrained version, eaten straight from the setting bowl.
• Some households top it with fresh berries as well as the crumbs.

History

Named after the Norse giant Ymir and produced industrially in Denmark since 1930.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ymer?

Ymer is a cheese & dairy from Denmark: thick soured milk eaten under ymerdrys of toasted rye crumbs and sugar. Named after the Norse giant Ymir and produced industrially in Denmark since 1930.

How long does Ymer take to make?

Ymer takes 10 min plus 20 hours souring and 6 hours draining of preparation and 10 min of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 800 ml. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Ymer?

Yes, within limits. Crème fraîche or live sour cream as the starter, both of which carry mesophilic cultures. Any stale dark rye for the crumbs; pumpernickel works well.

What is the most important thing to get right in Ymer?

Mix the crumbs with the brown sugar and the salt. Make this the same day you use it — the sugar draws moisture from the crumbs and turns the whole thing to a damp lump within a couple of days.