Yogurt

🇲🇳Mongolia

Aarts

Аарц

Soft, sharply sour curd left after separating cream and whey from milk, eaten fresh with sugar or dried into aaruul.

🇱🇰Sri Lanka

Buffalo Curd with Treacle

මී කිරි සහ පැණි

Set buffalo milk curd served in the clay pot it was made in, with dark palm treacle poured over it.

🇧🇬Bulgaria

Bulgarian Yogurt

Кисело мляко

Yogurt set with Lactobacillus bulgaricus, the bacterium named for the country — thick, sharply sour and eaten plain rather than sweetened.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Chaka

چکه

Yoghurt strained through cloth into a thick, tart cream, seasoned with garlic and mint and served over almost everything.

🇧🇷Brazil

Coalhada

Tangy strained yogurt used in northeastern Brazilian meals, desserts and savory sauces.

🇸🇪Sweden

Cultured Milk

Filmjölk

Traditional fermented milk product with mild tangy flavor, similar to buttermilk but milder, poured over cereal.

🇫🇮Finland

Curd Milk

Viili

Traditional fermented milk product with mild flavor and thick viscose or creamy texture, mesophilic heirloom culture.

🇬🇪Georgia

Georgian Yoghurt

Მაწონი

A tart set yoghurt made with a distinct culture, thick, slightly effervescent and eaten plain or thinned as a drink.

🇬🇷Greece

Greek Yogurt

Ελληνικό γιαούρτι

Greek strained yogurt, thick and creamy, made from sheep or cow milk. A national breakfast and dessert staple, served with honey, walnuts, or fruit, a healthy and iconic dairy.

🇮🇶Iraq

Jajik

جاجيك

Thick yoghurt beaten with cucumber, garlic, dried mint and salt, served cold as a side to grilled meat and rice.

🇯🇴Karak, Jordan

Jameed

جميد

Sheep or goat yoghurt salted, strained and dried into hard white stones that keep for years and are reconstituted into sauce.

🇳🇵Bhaktapur, Nepal

Juju Dhau

जुजु धौ

Buffalo milk is sweetened and set in a porous clay pot into Bhaktapur's thick, gently caramel-scented yogurt.

🇮🇷Iran

Kashk

کشک

Drained fermented whey dried into hard balls or sold as a thick liquid, used to finish soups and aubergine dishes with a sharp, funky saltiness.

🇦🇱Albania

Kos

Albanian yogurt, traditionally full-fat and slightly tangier than commercial yogurt, made from cow's or sheep's milk, often cultured at home, thick consistency with tangy flavor, used in cooking and as a condiment.

🇦🇲Armenia

Matsun

Մածուն

Armenian fermented milk, thicker and sharper than commercial yogurt, eaten plain, cooked into soup or thinned into a drink.

🇧🇩West Bengal, Bangladesh

Mishti Doi

মিষ্টি দই

Milk boiled down with date molasses or caramelised sugar, then set as yoghurt in a shallow earthen pot.

🇻🇪Venezuela

Nata

Soured cream skimmed and thickened until it is spreadable and tangy, eaten on arepas and casabe.

🇦🇿Azerbaijan

Qatiq

Qatıq

Thick soured milk used as a sauce, a soup base and a drink — poured over dolma, whisked into dovga, thinned into ayran.

🇦🇫Afghanistan

Quroot

قروت

Strained yoghurt salted, dried into hard white balls and stored for months, then reconstituted into a sour sauce.

🇲🇦Morocco

Raib

A Moroccan cultured milk, thick and tangy, similar to a drinkable yogurt.

🇮🇳India

Raita

रायता

A yogurt-based side dish with vegetables, fruits, or boondi, seasoned with spices. It cools spicy meals.

🇮🇳India

Shrikhand

श्रीखंड

Hung yogurt is sweetened and flavored with saffron, cardamom, and nuts into a thick dessert.

🇮🇸Iceland

Skyr

Iceland's 1,100-year-old cultured dairy, thick and high-protein, eaten daily.

🇧🇦Bosnia and Herzegovina

Smetana

Сметана

Thick soured cream of Eastern Slavic kitchens, richer than Western sour cream and spooned over nearly everything savoury.

🇱🇧Lebanon

Strained Yoghurt

لبنة

Yoghurt hung in a cloth until the whey drains and it thickens to a soft, tart cheese, spread on a plate and flooded with olive oil.

🇨🇴Colombia

Suero Costeño

A fermented-milk condiment from the Caribbean coast, similar to sour cream or labneh. Served with arepas, bollos, and coastal dishes, tangy and creamy.

🇲🇳Mongolia

Tarag

Тараг

Cow, yak or sheep milk soured with a starter into a thick, tart yoghurt, eaten plain or with sugar.

🇬🇷Greece

Trahanas

Τραχανάς

Greek fermented grain-and-milk (or yogurt) paste, dried in small granules, used for soup. A rustic, tangy, comforting winter soup base, a national staple, an ancient and healthy food.