Viili (Finnish) or Fil (Swedish) is a

mesophilic A mesophile is an organism that grows best in moderate temperature, neither too hot nor too cold, with an optimum growth range from . The optimum growth temperature for these organisms is 37 °C (about 99 °F). The term is mainly applied ...

fermented milk product Fermented milk products or fermented dairy products, also known as cultured dairy foods, cultured dairy products, or cultured milk products, are Dairy product, dairy foods that have been made by Fermentation, fermenting milk with lactic acid bac ...

found in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

, particularly

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Viili is similar to yoghurt or

kefir Kefir ( ; alternative spellings: kephir or kefier; ; ; ) is a Fermented milk products, fermented milk drink similar to a thin yogurt or ayran that is made from kefir grains, a specific type of mesophilic SCOBY, symbiotic culture. It is prep ...

, but when left unmixed, its texture is malleable, or "long". The metabolism of the bacteria used in the fermentation also gives viili a slightly different taste. This cultured

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

snack resembles yoghurt and is the result of microbial action of

lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillales are an order of gram-positive, low-GC, acid-tolerant, generally nonsporulating, nonrespiring, either rod-shaped (bacilli) or spherical ( cocci) bacteria that share common metabolic and physiological characteristics. These bact ...

(LAB) and a surface-growing

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...

-like fungus ''

Geotrichum candidum ''Geotrichum candidum'' is a fungus which is a member of the human microbiome, notably associated with skin, sputum, and faeces where it occurs in 25–30% of specimens. It is common in soil and has been isolated from soil collected around the w ...

'' present in milk, which forms a velvet-like surface on viili. In addition, most traditional viili cultures also contain

strains such as ''Kluveromyces marxianus'' and ''Pichia fermentans''. The lactic acid bacteria identified in viili include the acid‐producing '' Lactococcus lactis'' subsp. ''lactis'' and ''L. l. cremoris'' as well as the aroma producers ''L. lactis'' subsp. ''lactis'' biovar ''diacetylactis'' and '' Leuconostoc mesenteroides''. Among those mesophilic LAB strains, the slime-forming ''Lc. lactis'' subsp. ''cremoris'' produce a phosphate-containing heteropolysaccharide, named viilian. Viilian is similar to kefiran produced by kefir grains. The production of exopolysaccharides (EPS) by the strain forms the consistency character of viili and it has been claimed to have various functional benefits toward the rheological properties of milk products and the health improving potential. In modern practice, pasteurized milk is used, fermentation is carried out in a dairy plant in controlled conditions using laboratory-grown cultures and the product sold fresh. Viili is widely available in Finland and Sweden in grocery stores in several variants, both natural and with berries or other tastes. In Sweden it is also common to have different LAB and yeast strains that give the Fil different tastes.

Other variants

Several variants of fermented milk products are found in Western Finland and Sweden, such as

filmjölk (), also known as , is a traditional fermented milk product from Sweden, and a common dairy product within most of the Nordic countries. It is made by fermentation (food), fermenting cow's milk with a variety of bacteria from the species ''Lactoc ...

("viili milk") or långfil ("long viili"), which vary in consistency and fermentation. In Norway, filmjölk is usually named "kulturmelk" ("cultured milk") or "surmelk" ("sour milk"), while in Gotland and Iceland, the name "skyr" is used to refer to fresh cheese that is eaten in ways similar to yoghurt variants. Additionally in Iceland "súrmjólk" is a local variant of filmjölk. The Swedish variant most resembling viili is called ''filbunke''. Cream viili (Finnish: ''kermaviili'') is made from cream instead of milk, and is used in cooking like

sour cream Sour cream (sometimes known as soured cream in British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, which is introduced either deliberately or naturall ...

, or with

dill Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is native to North Africa, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula; it is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring ...

chives Chives, scientific name ''Allium schoenoprasum'', is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae. A perennial plant, ''A. schoenoprasum'' is widespread in nature across much of Eurasia and North America. It is the only spe ...

and other spices as cold sauce for fish, or as a base for dip sauces.

References

*Leporanta, K. 2003. ''Viili and Långfil – exotic fermented products from Scandinavia.'' Valio Foods & Functionals. On line version *Mistry, V. V. 2004. ''Fermented liquid milk products. In: Handbook of food and beverage fermentation technology.'' (Ed. Y. H. Hui, L. Meunier-Goddik, Å. S. Hansen, J. Josephsen, W. Nip, P. S. Stanfield and F. Toldrá) Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York, U.S.A. *Ruas-Madiedo, P., M. Gueimonde, C. G. De los Reyes-Gavilán and S. Salminen. 2006. ''Short communication: Effect of exopolysaccharide isolated from “viili” on the adhesion of probiotics and pathogens to intestinal mucus.'' J. Dairy Sci. 89:2355-2358. *Shurtleff, W. and A. Aoyagi. 2004. ''History of Fermented Soymilk and Its products: History of Soybeans and Soyfoods: 1100 B.C. to the 1980s.'' Soyfoods Center, Lafayette, California.

External links

{{Yogurts Fermented dairy products Finnish cuisine Non-Newtonian fluids de:Dickmilch sv:Fil (mjölkprodukt)