Claudia: When it comes to Greek yogurt, we may think
that the authentic version is made of cow's milk
and is strained of its own liquid
to reach the perfect thick and creamy consistency.
Well, none of this is actually true.
Real Greek yogurt, of the kind made not in factories
but in villages, like here, in Flokas near Olympia,
has never been strained and probably never will.
Here, yogurt is made with full-fat sheep's milk.
This rich milk, together with a combination
of time and temperatures, is going to give us a yogurt
that is already tart and creamy in its own pot,
without the need to be strained at all.
It all starts with that fresh sheep's milk.
Antonis: Drink some of it. Claudia: Smells strong, huh?
Yes.
Wow, yeah, there's a lot of fat there.
It's thick. Antonis: Yeah.
Claudia: It has a little bit of tanginess.
Like you said, it's not sweet.
It's a bit acid. Antonis: Yes, yes, yes.
Claudia: Yogurt at Antonis' dairy starts
with one-day-old cold milk.
His technician, Thanasis, heats it up to 90 degrees Celsius,
waits one hour, and then transfers it into small pots.
Although it looks simple, gauging your strength
with this pump is actually very difficult.
Oh, it's warm, huh? Antonis: Yeah.
In here.
Claudia: Like that? Antonis: Good, press it.
Slowly.
Claudia: It's super complicated
because it's very, very sensitive,
and it's also super warm.
Antonis: It's not too complicated,
but it has small secrets.
Claudia: Yeah.
Antonis: As every job, as with anything.
Claudia: What is the difference
between putting yogurt in a plastic one
versus this bowl? Antonis: No, no, no.
It's not, you know, it's the same yogurt.
It has to do with the look.
Claudia: With the tradition.
Yes. It looks more traditional.
Claudia: If you look carefully, you will notice
that Thanasis is not filling the pots to the brim.
He is leaving a little room
for what Antonis calls the powder.
It's made of old, broken yogurt
that is 20 or even 30 days old
mixed with some fresh milk.
It's added to ferment the yogurt, a bit like sourdough.
Thanasis uses an even smaller pump to add the powder.
And yes, the smaller pump is even harder
to use than the previous one.
Thanasis has to put only 5 milligrams in every pot,
so I won't even try using it this time.
He adds the powder from the side of the pot
to preserve the crust on the top.
Antonis: The way that Thanasis use
is the same way that my mother, my wife's mother
was making the yogurt 50 years ago.
This is the authentic yogurt.
Claudia: So, yeah, actually you can see
it already formed a little bit of a film,
even though it's been here only for, like, 10 minutes.
Antonis: Now we'll close the door,
and we turn on the heat
from 45 to 50 degrees.
And we are going to let it, for three hours.
Claudia: When the doors are opened
three hours later,
a crust is formed on the surface of the yogurt.
That is the butterfat present in the milk,
whereas the liquid whey now sits at the bottom.
Antonis: It's ready. How strong we want for the time.
Claudia: Every yogurt is different.
Not all pots turn into yogurt.
In this one here, the powder didn't work.
As Antonis moves the pots out of the fridge,
he has to be careful not to move them too much,
because the liquid whey from the bottom of the pot
can surface and spoil the yogurt.
The only one that can handle a bit of wiggling
for the camera is this 17-kilo tub
that Antonis will turn into tzatziki.
Although at this step it is important
that the butterfat at the top
and the liquid whey at the bottom stay separate,
that doesn't mean that the liquid whey
needs to be strained and taken away.
The whey is sour, and the butterfat is sweet.
As the yogurt keeps fermenting at room temperature
in its pot, the two will slowly combine.
Antonis: We open the window, we open the door,
and all this fresh air works like a natural air condition.
Claudia: Oh, all right.
The temperature goes down naturally.
Believe me, this is something
that not many people can see.
OK.
Claudia: Yeah, because you normally have a yogurt
from the fridge.
Antonis: You see it as we move it.
It's not moved very easy.
It's strong.
Claudia: Yeah.
So, what does fresh, warm yogurt taste like?
Mm.
Antonis: It's almost like baby cream.
Claudia: Nice, yeah.
It's not a feeling on your mouth that you're used to.
Because it's warm cream,
and we're not used to eating warm cream.
Antonis: You see, you see the juices?
Claudia: So this is the whey,
the liquid whey in the milk.
And this is the one that normally is taken away,
you know, when you make strained milk.
A small 200-gram pot of Antonis' sheep's milk yogurt
contains 6% fat and 6% protein,
both of which sometimes rise as high as 8%,
depending on the weather and what the sheep forage.
This percentages of fat and protein are double
what cow's milk yogurt is made of and can only be matched
by straining out the whey in cow's milk
to increase the volume of butterfat.
Straining means you need more milk,
so more fat, to have the same volume of yogurt.
Today's batch of milk gave Antonis 280 pots of yogurt.
After resting at room temperature for one hour,
they will have a 15-day shelf life
if stored in the fridge.
Antonis: We had the milk. You see?
Claudia: Ooh!
Antonis: This is the final product.
Claudia: When the yogurt is cold,
the taste of the crust on top
and the creamy part below it will be different.
Antonis: This is real. All the butter.
Claudia: And it's very tart, as well.
Like, it's not sweet at all.
And this is really --
Antonis: You understand the difference?
Claudia: Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.
And this is this kind of milk
compared to cow's milk or, like, strained yogurt.
This is much more tart. Antonis: Eat the inside.
Mm.
Wow, it has a completely different taste, huh?
Antonis: You see it. Claudia: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
This is a little bit sweet, but not sugary.
To add an extra layer of sweetness,
Antonis lets me try the yogurt
topped with some grape jam made by his mother.
We also tried it spread on bread.
Mm.
You know what the doctors say?
It's a full dinner.
Yeah, I'm going to send some pictures to my doctor.
Bread and yogurt.
We take the milk, any kind of milk they will give us.
That's why sometimes the yogurt is
stronger, fatter, more proteins.
This is what mother nature give to us.
We have to work with this,
and we will make the product.
Claudia: With whatever you have, yeah.
And we will see if it's strong or not.