We remember when Siggi Hilmarsson’s skyr (pronounced SKEER), Icelandic-style strained yogurt, first appeared on the shelves of Murray’s Cheese in Greenwich Village.

Hailing from Iceland, the transplanted New Yorker found the yogurts in the U.S. too sweet and not thick enough—even the Greek-style yogurts. So in 2004 he started to make his own, in his kitchen. Today, Siggi’s skyr is available nationally, to the delight of many.

This is not bargain yogurt. It’s even pricier than Greek brands—and it’s thicker than Greek yogurt as well. The reason is, more milk is required to produce the same quantity. You get what you pay for.

Greek-style yogurt is thicker than American-style yogurt because more water is strained out of the whey—it’s triple strained. But skyr is drained even more. Think of it as quadruple-strained yogurt. One cup of Siggi’s skyr requires four times more milk than a typical American brand.

The result is so thick that a spoon stands up straight in the cup; yet it has 0% fat (some flavors are lowfat, 2%). The concentration of milk also delivers more calcium and protein.

A bowl of Siggi’s skyr with pomegranate arils. Photo courtesy Siggi’s Dairy.

In Iceland, skyr is typically fat-free because all the cream has been removed to make butter.

If you look for information on skyr, you may find it referred to as a cheese. So is it yogurt or cheese? It depends on the recipe of the individual producer.

The recipe arrived in Iceland from Norway in the Middle Ages. It most likely was originally made as a cheese, with rennet. These days, some ism some isn’t. Siggi’s is yogurt.

The difference between a cultured dairy product, such as sour cream or yogurt, and a fresh cheese that looks just like it, such as fromage blanc or quark, is the addition of a coagulant, such as rennet.

With cottage cheese and ricotta, you can see the curds. With fromage blanc and quark (and most other cheeses), you can’t, because of the particular recipe. You also can’t tell the difference by tasting it. The textures of sour cream, yogurt, fromage blanc and quark are very similar.

Don’t confuse these fresh cheeses with yogurt cheese like labneh.
 
THE DIFFERENCE IN YOGURT

 
The more concentrated (strained) a style of yogurt is, the costlier it will be because it contains more milk and less water.

Check out our Yogurt Glossary for much more on the different types of yogurt.

SIGGI’S FLAVORS

In addition to its much thicker body, Siggi’s flavors have far less sugar. Mainstream flavored yogurts can have up to 25 grams of sugar per serving. Siggi’s varieties have 9-11 grams, resulting in 10-20 calories less than brands like Chobani and FAGE. While that doesn’t mean a lot for one portion, for frequent yogurt eaters it adds up.

The products are made with rBST-free milk that comes from family farms in New York State and Wisconsin, and are sweetened with fruit and a touch of agave nectar or cane sugar, instead of fruit preserves. The result is a more elegant flavor
 
FLAVORS WITH 0% FAT

 
FLAVORS WITH 2% FAT

 
The company also makes squeezable yogurt tubes in Raspberry and Strawberry, and filmjölk—Swedish-style drinkable yogurt—in Plain, Raspberry, Strawberry and Vanilla.

The brand is all natural, certified gluten-free and certified kosher by OU.

Siggi’s is eco-friendly. The front of the label tells you the grams of sugar, protein and calories. The label itself is paper, and can be easily detached ffrom the plastic carton for separate recycling.

For a store locator visit SiggisDairy.com.
 
MOTHER’S DAY GIFTING

For a yogurt lover, pick up one or two containers of each flavor and tuck them into an Easter basket or a nice serving bowl.

If you admire the fancy plate decoration done by fine chefs, here’s a tip: It’s easy to makes everyday food look quite spectacular!

There are three easy steps:
1. Consider placing a bright-colored sauce or purée atop the plate, under the food. If you’re not using a sauce, try a circular or zig-zag drizzle.

2. Add a garnish/garnishes around the rim of a plate.

3. Top with herbs (chiffonade, leaves or sprigs), microgreens or sprouts.

Just decide on what you want to garnish your plate. Choose from:

RIM GARNISHES

 
DRIZZLES & DROPLETS

Grilled fish garnished with a bit of everything: balsamic droplets, pomegranate arils. Photo courtesy Rock Center Café | NYC.

BEDS FOR PROTEINS

 
 
MORE GARNISH TIPS

Collect photos and keep them in a file in the kitchen.

Check out our many garnish ideas for both sweet and savory dishes, and a separate article on soup garnishes.

Here’s help if you want to make homemade pretzels (see the recipe below): the Silpat baking sheet for that Perfect Pretzel Baking Sheet.

Just lay the dough over the outlines for uniform-shaped pretzels every time.

The sheet is 16.5 inches x 11.6 inches.

While the first group of pretzels is cooling down, put the next batch in…and count the moments until you can bite into a warm pretzel.

This recipe is courtesy Williams-Sonoma. See more photos of the process.

Find more delicious recipes at WilliamsSonoma.com.
 
RECIPE: SOFT PRETZELS

Ingredients For 12 Large Pretzels

1. STIR together in the bowl of a stand mixer the warm water, yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

2. ADD the olive oil, flour and salt. Attach the dough hook and knead the dough on medium-low speed until smooth, about 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled, about 1 hour.

3. PREHEAT the oven to 450°F with the rack placed in the middle. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and brush the parchment with oil. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface, then cut it into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope about 18 inches long. Position each rope positioned horizontally.

4. BRING the 2 ends of the rope up and toward the center as if forming an oval. Cross one end over the other, and press each end into the bottom of the oval to create a pretzel shape. Place the pretzels on the prepared pan.

5. FILL a large, wide saucepan with 7 cups of water. Stir in the baking soda, and bring to a boil. Gently drop 2 or 3 pretzels at a time into the boiling water (be careful not to overcrowd them). Boil for just under 1 minute, turning once with a large slotted spoon or spatula. Return the boiled pretzels to the baking sheet, spacing them evenly, top side up.

6. SPRINKLE the pretzels with coarse salt. Bake until beautifully browned, about 10 minutes, rotating the pans about halfway through. Serve warm with big spoonfuls of grainy mustard.

BYOB and dig in! Photo courtesy Williams-Sonoma.

The origins of mustard are lost to history, but it is a Northern Hemisphere plant, the seeds of which have been found in Stone Age settlements.

 
Cultivated for thousands of years, mustard was the primary spice known to Europeans before the advent of the Asian spice trade. Westerners had mustard long before pepper, which originated in India. Once trade routes were established, ancient people from India to Egypt to Rome chewed mustard seeds with their meat for seasoning.

Our word mustard comes from the Middle English mustarde, meaning condiment; which in turn comes from the Old French mostarde. Mosto derives from the Latin mustum, the word for grape must, or young, unfermented wine, which was the liquid mixed with ground mustard seed by French monks who made the condiment. The monks’ word for mustard was mustum ardens, meaning burning wine.

By the 1400s, mustard-making had spread through Europe; each region made its own style.

One of the earliest versions was grainy mustard, a more casual name for what is known as old-style or old-fashioned mustard, and moutarde à l’ancienne in French.

Grainy mustard is prepared from a base of mixed mustard seeds, verjus or white wine, spices and herbs. The ingredients are ground coarsely in order to leave the seeds whole.

Grainy mustard has a dark color and a slightly milder flavor than other mustards. It has a slightly sweet taste, making it a good accompaniment for rustic foods like sausages or country-style pates and cornichons. It can be mixed with melted garlic butter and fresh thyme to create a sauce to drizzle over fish, and many other creative preparations.

Here’s more on the history of mustard and the different types of mustard.

 
*Today, white wine and verjus are used to make some mustard varieties; vinegars are used to make most others.

Add cocoa powder to make chocolate churros. Photo courtesy MommieCooks.com.

A churro is a fried-dough pastry snack, typically made from choux pastry (pâte à choux). While churros are most often found on the dessert menus at Mexican restaurants, served with chocolate dipping sauce, their origin may be far away from Mexico.

One theory says that churros were brought to Europe from Ming Dynasty China by the Portuguese. Another theory is that churros were created by Spanish shepherds, easy to make and fry over an open fire in the mountains.

Beyond Mexico and the rest of Latin America, they are popular in France, the Philippines, Portugal, the Southwestern United States and Spain. Depending on region, they can be longer and thinner or shorter and thicker.

Ed Engoron, co-founder of Choclatique gourmet chocolates and author of Choclatique: Simply Elegant Desserts, sent us his recipe for chocolate churros.

“This is my favorite Mexican fast food dessert and it’s perfect for a Cinco de Mayo celebration,” says Ed. “They are a common street food and can also be found at fairs and carnivals in both America and Mexico.

“Fried chocolate-how bad could it be?”

Prep time is 10 minutes, fry time is 30 minutes.
 
 
RECIPE: CHOCOLATE CHURROS

Ingredients For 24 Churros

Preparation

1. STIR together the sugar and cinnamon and set aside. Combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt in a separate bowl; set aside.

2. PREHEAT the oil to 360°F in a heavy deep skillet or deep-fryer (use a kitchen thermometer). The oil should be at least 1-1/2 inches deep. While the oil is heating…

3. HEAT the water and margarine to a rolling boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in the flour/cocoa mixture. Reduce the heat to low and stir vigorously until the mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and beat in the eggs one at a time.

4. SPOON the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Carefully squeeze out 4-inch long strips of dough directly into the hot oil. Fry 3 or 4 strips at a time, until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove from hot oil to drain on paper towels. Roll each of the churros in the cinnamon-sugar mixture while still hot.

*Note that if the oil isn’t hot enough, the churros will be greasy. If the oil is hotter than 460°, they will not get fully cooked on the inside. So be sure to use a thermometer!
 
 
RECIPE: CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the chocolate and shortening in a small resealable freezer bag. Microwave on HIGH for about 30 seconds until chocolate is melted. Massage the chocolate and shortening together in the bag.

2. SNIP off corner and drizzle over the fried churros in cinnamon-sugar.