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Filmjölk
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Filmjölk (also known as fil or the older word surmjölk) is a Swedish mesophilic fermented milk product that is made by fermenting cow's milk with a variety of bacteria from the species Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides. The bacteria metabolize lactose, the sugar naturally found in milk, into lactic acid. The acid gives filmjölk a sour taste and causes proteins in the milk, mainly casein, to coagulate, thus thickening the final product.
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Encyclopedia
Filmjölk (also known as fil or the older word surmjölk) is a Swedish mesophilic fermented milk product that is made by fermenting cow's milk with a variety of bacteria from the species Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides. The bacteria metabolize lactose, the sugar naturally found in milk, into lactic acid. The acid gives filmjölk a sour taste and causes proteins in the milk, mainly casein, to coagulate, thus thickening the final product. The bacteria also produce a limited amount of diacetyl, which gives filmjölk its characteristic taste. Filmjölk is similar to cultured buttermilk, kefir, or yoghurt in consistency, but fermented by different bacteria and thus has a slightly different taste. Compared with yoghurt, filmjölk tastes less sour. In Sweden, it is normally sold in 1-liter packages with live bacteria. The bacteria help maintain the balance between beneficial and harmful bacteria in the intestines.
Overview
In Nordic countries, filmjölk is commonly eaten during breakfast or as a snack between meals (mellanmål) in the same manner as yoghurt, usually from a bowl with a spoon. It can be drunk but is not normally done so since the liquid is fairly thick. Filmjölk is often eaten with breakfast cereal, muesli or crushed crisp bread on top. Since plain filmjölk tastes somewhat sour, many people add sugar, jam, applesauce, cinnamon, fruits, and/or berries.
Manufactured filmjölk is made from pasteurised, homogenised, and standardised cow's milk. Although home made filmjölk has been around for a long time (written records from the 18th century speak of filmjölk-like products, but it has probably been around since the Viking Age or longer), it was first introduced to the Swedish market as a consumer product in 1931 by the Swedish dairy cooperative Arla. The first filmjölk was unflavoured and contained 3% milkfat. Since the 1960s, different varieties of unflavoured filmjölk has been marketed in Swedish grocery stores. Långfil, a more elastic variant of filmjölk was introduced in 1965; lättfil, filmjölk with 0.5% milkfat was introduced in 1967; and mellanfil, filmjölk with 1.5% milkfat was introduced in 1990. In 1997, Arla introduced its first flavoured filmjölk: strawberry flavoured filmjölk. The flavoured filmjölk was so popular that different flavours soon followed. By 2001, almost one third of the filmjölk sold in Sweden was flavoured filmjölk. Since 2007, variations of filmjölk include filmjölk with various fat content, filmjölk flavoured with fruit, vanilla, or honey, as well as filmjölk with probiotic bacteria that is claimed to be extra healthful, such as Onaka fil which contains Bifidobacterium lactis (a strain of bacteria popular in Japan) and Verum Hälsofil which contains Lactococcus lactis L1A in quantities of at least 10 billion live bacteria per deciliter.
In English
There is currently no accepted English term for fil or filmjölk. Fil and/or filmjölk has been translated to English as sour milk, soured milk, acidulated milk, fermented milk, and curdled milk, all of which are nearly synonymous and describe filmjölk but do not differentiate filmjölk from other types of soured/fermented milk. Filmjölk has also been described as viscous fermented milk and viscous mesophilic fermented milk, as well as incorrectly translated to junket. Furthermore, articles written in English can be found that use the Swedish term filmjölk, as well as the incorrect spellings filmjolk, fil mjölk, and fil mjolk.
In Finland Swedish
In Finland Swedish, a dialect of Swedish spoken by Swedish-speaking Finns, fil in Finland is the equivalent of filbunke in Sweden. Not all variants of filmjölk are found in Finland, normally only filbunke and långfil. Swedish-speaking Finns usually use the word surmjölk, which is the older name for filmjölk (also in Sweden) or piimä (in Finnish), which is a fermented milk product that is thinner than filmjölk and resembles cultured buttermilk.
Types of filmjölk in Sweden
In Sweden, there are six Swedish dairy cooperatives that produce filmjölk: Arla Foods, Falköpings Mejeri, Gefleortens Mejeri, Milko, Norrmejerier, and Skånemejerier. In addition, Wapnö AB, a Swedish dairy company, and Valio, a Finnish dairy company, also sell a limited variety of filmjölk in Sweden. Prior to the manufacture of filmjölk, many families made filmjölk at home.
Fil culture is a variety of bacteria from the species Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides, e.g., Arla's fil culture contains Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris, Lactococcus lactis biovar. diacetylactis, and Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris.
Classical filmjölk variants
| Name | Literal translation | Milkfat content | Fermentation culture | Produced by | Year introduced | Description |
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| Filmjölk | | 2.5%-3% | fil culture | Arla Foods, Falköpings Mejeri, Gefleortens Mejeri, Milko, Norrmejerier, Skånemejerier, Wapnö AB | 1931 (Arla) | "Regular" filmjölk. Filmjölk made from 3% milk. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. Also comes in a variant made from organic milk, a low-lactose variant that has been treated with lactase enzyme, a variant with added fiber (f-fil, fil med fiber), and a variant with higher milkfat content (Arla Vår finaste filmjölk, 3.8–4.5% milkfat). Has been in the Swedish language since 1741. | | Mellanfil | middle (lowfat) filmjölk | 1.3%, 1.5% | fil culture | Arla Foods, Falköpings Mejeri, Gefleortens Mejeri, Milko, Norrmejerier, Skånemejerier | 1990 (Arla) | Filmjölk made from 1.5% milk. Comes unflavoured only. | | Lättfil | light (nonfat) filmjölk | 0.4%, 0.5% | fil culture | Arla Foods, Falköpings Mejeri, Gefleortens Mejeri, Milko, Norrmejerier, Skånemejerier, Wapnö AB | 1967 (Arla), 1968 | Filmjölk made from 0.5% milk. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. Also comes in a low-lactose variant that has been treated with lactase enzyme. | Långfil
fi: pitkäviili | long fil | 3% | fil culture + Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis var. longi | Arla Foods, Gefleortens Mejeri, Norrmejerier | 1965 (Arla) | Filmjölk with a characteristic long and almost elastic texture due to Lactococcus lactis var. Longi, a strain of bacteria that converts the carbohydrates in milk into long chains of polysaccharides. Comes unflavoured only. More common in northern Sweden. Sometimes eaten with ground ginger. Has been in the Swedish language since 1896. | | Bollnäsfil | Bollnäs fil | 3% | fil culture from Bollnäs | Milko | | Filmjölk that originated in Bollnäs. Comes unflavoured or vanilla flavoured. | | Fjällfil | mountain fil | 0.8%, 3.8–4.5% | special fil culture | Milko | | Filmjölk that tingles the tongue when you eat it, like champagne. Comes unflavoured only. |
Filbunke
fi-se: Fil
fi: Viili | bowl of fil | 2.5%, 4% | special fil culture | Milko, Valio | | Milk that has fermented, unstirred, in small bowls. Has a pudding-like consistency. Similar to unstirred långfil. Traditionally made in small bowls from (unpasteurized and unhomogenized) raw milk, which normally contains some cream. The cream forms a yellowish layer of sour cream on top. Comes unflavoured only. Has been in the Swedish language since 1652. | | Laktosfri Fil | lactose-free fil | 3.5% | fil culture | Valio | | Filmjölk made from 3.5% milk and treated with lactase enzyme. Comes unflavoured only. |
Probiotic filmjölk variants
| Name | Literal translation | Milkfat content | Fermentation culture | Produced by | Year introduced | Description |
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| A-fil | | 0.5%, 2.7%, 3% | fil culture + Lactobacillus acidophilus | Arla Foods, Falköpings Mejeri, Gefleortens Mejeri, Milko, Skånemejerier, Wapnö AB | 1984 (Arla) | Filmjölk with Lactobacillus acidophilus, a commonly used probiotic bacteria. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. | | Cultura aktiv fil | active culture fil | 0.1% | fil culture + Lactobacillus casei F19 | Arla Foods | 2004 | Filmjölk with Lactobacillus casei F19, a patented probiotic bacteria. Comes unflavoured only. | | Kefir | good tasting, healthy | 3% | Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris, Lactobacillus brevis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris, Candida kefyr | Arla Foods | 1977 | Filmjölk variant based on kefir, a probiotic food; only contains a small subset of microorganisms found in kefir grains. Originated in Caucasus. Comes unflavoured. | | Onaka | stomach | 1.5% | fil culture + Bifidobacterium lactis | Arla Foods | 1990 | Filmjölk with Bifidobacterium lactis, a probiotic bacteria popular in Japan. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. | | Philura | | 1.5%, 2.6% | Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus casei | Milko | 2003 | Tastes somewhere between regular filmjölk and yogurt. Contains probiotic bacteria that is normally found in the digestive system. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. | | Verum hälsofil | true health fil | 0.5%, 4% | Lactococcus lactis L1A | Norrmejerier | 1990 | Filmjölk that contains at least 10 x 109 Lactococcus lactis L1A bacteria per deciliter. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. Lactococcus lactis L1A is a patented probiotic bacteria that originated from a culture of långfil from a farm in Västerbotten. In 1998 Verum hälsofil was approved as a natural medical product (naturläkemedel) by the Swedish national regulatory agency Medical Products Agency (Läkemedelsverket). It has been shown to have a positive effect on the immune and digestive system. | | Öresundsfil | Öresund's fil | 0.9%, 1% | fil culture + Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium | Skånemejerier | 2000 | Filmjölk with Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium, probiotic bacteria. Comes unflavoured and flavoured. | | ProViva Naturell Filmjölk | ProViva unflavoured filmjölk | 1% | fil cuture + Lactobacillus plantarum 299v | Skånemejerier | 1994 | Filmjölk that contains at least 50 x 106 Lp 299v per milliliter. Comes unflavoured. Lp 299v, a patented probiotic bacteria, has been shown to decrease the symptoms of colon irritation and stressed digestive system in people who consumed ProViva. |
Homemade filmjölk
To make filmjölk, a small amount of bacteria from an active batch of filmjölk is normally transferred to pasteurised milk and then left one to two days to ferment at room temperature or in a cool cellar. Pasteurised milk must be mixed with fil culture to create filmjölk because the naturally occurring bacteria in milk is killed during the pasteurization process.
A variant of filmjölk called tätmjölk, filtäte, täte or långmjölk is made by rubbing the inside of a container with plants of the genus Drosera (called sileshår in Swedish) or with leaves from plants of the genus Pinguicula (Common name: Butterworts, called tätört in Swedish). Lukewarm milk is added to the container and left to ferment for one to two days. More tätmjölk can then be made by adding completed tätmjölk to milk. Carl von Linné described in Flora Lapponica (1737) a recipe for tätmjölk and wrote that any species of Pinguicula could be used to make tätmjölk.
Drosera and Pinguicula are carnivorous plants that have enzymes that degrade proteins, which make the milk thick. How Pinguicula influences the production of tätmjölk is not completely understood; lactic acid bacteria have not been isolated during analyses of Pinguicula.
There is a common belief that tätmjölk can not be made when there is a thunderstorm.
External links
See also
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