Foodists

Best. Yogurt. Ever.

Last summer, I had the odd nutritional goal of eating more yogurt. I work from home, and I was in the nasty habit of skipping breakfast – I thought that a good bowl of cultured milk product with some fresh fruit from the farmer’s market might be the perfect way to get my mornings back on track.

I decided that I’d make my way through the yogurt selection at my local grocery store, and settle on the one I liked the best. Over the course of a few weeks, I had five different brands of yogurt. They ranged in quality and flavour – from watery and bland to thick and somewhat creamy. But, I still had one left to try.

Liberty, a Quebec-based dairy product maker, makes a variety of plain and flavoured yogurts. Their standard plain variety had already ranked highest out of my five-tub-taste test, so I was keen to try their ‘Mediterranean Style’ yogurt. Right when I opened the tub, I knew I had a winner. This yogurt was so thick you could hold the tub upside down and nothing would come out. And then the taste. Oh, the taste. Compared to this, all of the others I tried were mere amateurs. Yogurts that didn’t deserve the name yogurt. This was the crown-prince of fermented milk products.

After that day, I had yogurt every morning for a month. I had yogurt with honey, yogurt with granola, yogurt with nuts. I had yogurt on pancakes, yogurt on french toast, and yogurt with yogurt. Yogurt went into sauces, dressings and deserts. I was in love with yogurt.

Alas, there was a catch, and it was written in 18pt at the bottom of the container. All these weeks I’d failed to see it, blinded by the rich and creamy taste. 10% Milk Fat. You read correctly. 10%. For all intents and purposes I’d been eating a big bowl of whipped cream for breakfast every morning.

I cut back on my yogurt feasting (I just couldn’t go back to those other brands), but I still keep a tub of Liberty Mediterranean Style Yogurt in the fridge. It makes heavenly tsatziki, goes well with spicy curries, and is a good substitute for sour cream in dips and with latin food. And once in a while I still enjoy a big bowl of it for breakfast.

God bless you, Acidophilus.