Scared of Skyr – the Icelandic Sour Yogurt

Yesterday on my hurried way to work, I stopped at a grocery store to pick up two cups of yogurt and some fruit. I figured it was going to be a healthy and quick lunch. When I took my first bite of yogurt, it was a bit thicker than normal, I thought to myself, that’s okay, it’s just that hearty custard style. And then it hit me. A wave of sour. A tsunami of sour. A hurricane of sour. It’s like the 2012 of sour. Okay, you get it.

I looked at the cup of yogurt and it said “Icelandic style Skyr” on it. W-T-F? In my haste I grabbed skyr, an Icelandic sour-as-hell yogurt. Andrew Zimmern ate a spoonful of it on Bizarre Foods Iceland (Season 2, episode 2) but it didn’t really bother him the way it hit me.

But seriously, I only looked at “pomegranate” and “passion fruit” and I got excited. I didn’t even bother to look at the Icelandic part or the skyr part. It was totally my fault.

I still ate it, but a face-jerk accompanied every spoonful of this stuff. I would definitely enjoy it more if it had more sugar though. You could tell that this kind of hearty Icelandic style yogurt is healthy for you because it’s pretty hearty and has a potent sour taste. It also has a very natural, healthy looking off-white color. Lesson learned, Skyr is not for losers. But I did enjoy experiencing a new food. I encourage everyone out there to go eat their own spoonfuls of Icelandic skyr and see if it’s something they like.

Cheers!