Viili (Finnish) 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. The term is mainly applied to microorganisms. Organi ...
fermented milk product found in the
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...
, particularly
Finland. Viili is similar to
yoghurt or
kefir, 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 snack resembles yoghurt and is the result of microbial action of
lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and a surface-growing
yeast-like fungus ''
Geotrichum candidum'' present in milk, which forms a velvet-like surface on viili. In addition, most traditional viili cultures also contain
yeast 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 in grocery stores in several variants.
Other variants
Several variants of fermented milk products are found in Western Finland and Sweden, such as
filmjölk ("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 fermented yoghurt variants.
Cream viili (Finnish: ''kermaviili'') is made from cream instead of milk, and is used in cooking like
sour cream, or with
dill,
chives 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)