Skyr með berjum — skyr with wild berries
Skyr, thick and tangy curd cheese, sweetened with a little cream and sugar, crowned with wild Icelandic berries. Fresh, sharp, protein-rich: eaten for breakfast, coffee break, or as a light dessert.
Skyr, thick and tangy curd cheese, sweetened with a little cream and sugar, crowned with wild Icelandic berries. Fresh, sharp, protein-rich: eaten for breakfast, coffee break, or as a light dessert.
Skyr is the oldest friend of Icelanders — a thousand years it's lived in our kitchens, can you believe it? It's tangy, stubborn, white as snow, and I love it because it's alive, full of little dancing ferments. In summer, I go to the moor, bend down, fill my hands with blue and black berries still warm from the sun — and I spill them over the skyr with a cloud of cream. It's sour and sweet at the same time, like Iceland, like me maybe!
- •Skyr (strained curd cheese) — a bowl (fermented dairy base)
- •Cream — a drizzle (soften the acidity)
- •Wild berries (crowberry, bog bilberry) — a handful (fruit and acidity)
- •Sugar or honey — to taste (sweetness)
Skyr með berjum — skyr with wild berries
Skyr, thick and tangy curd cheese, sweetened with a little cream and sugar, crowned with wild Icelandic berries. Fresh, sharp, protein-rich: eaten for breakfast, coffee break, or as a light dessert.
Why this dish? Björk remains attached to Nordic dairy products and happily picks what the Icelandic landscape offers. Skyr topped with berries gathered from the moor — bog bilberries and crowberries — is the island's snack, a thousand-year-old live ferment married to the wild fruits of its short summers.
Skyr is the oldest friend of Icelanders — a thousand years it's lived in our kitchens, can you believe it? It's tangy, stubborn, white as snow, and I love it because it's alive, full of little dancing ferments. In summer, I go to the moor, bend down, fill my hands with blue and black berries still warm from the sun — and I spill them over the skyr with a cloud of cream. It's sour and sweet at the same time, like Iceland, like me maybe!
Ingredients (period version)
- Skyr (strained curd cheese) — a bowl (fermented dairy base)
- Cream — a drizzle (soften the acidity)
- Wild berries (crowberry, bog bilberry) — a handful (fruit and acidity)
- Sugar or honey — to taste (sweetness)
Ingredients
- Plain skyr — 400 g (fermented base)
- Heavy cream — 4 tbsp (creaminess)
- Blueberries and seasonal berries — 150 g (tangy topping)
- Sugar or honey — 2 tbsp (sweetness)
- Vanilla (optional) — a few drops (flavor)
Method
- Briefly whisk the skyr with cream and sugar to soften without liquefying.
- Taste and adjust sweetness: skyr should remain distinctly tangy.
- Divide into bowls or glasses.
- Top with fresh (or thawed) wild berries.
- Serve immediately, well chilled, optionally with a spoonful of crushed berries as a coulis.
How it was made : Skyr has been attested in Iceland since Viking times: skimmed milk was curdled with a culture passed down through generations (a bit of skyr from the previous batch), then strained in a cloth. The leftover whey (mysa) was used to preserve meat and quench thirst. Wild berries, gathered in abundance at the end of summer, were one of the few fruits available on the island.
The contemporary twist : Served in layered verrines with rye and oat granola, skyr with berries has become the "healthy" emblem of Nordic gastronomy exported worldwide.
Sources : Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir, Icelandic Food and Cookery, Hippocrene Books, 2002
Björk · Charactorium