Fermented Milk Products from All Over the World. Surmelk or kulturmelk (Norway)

Surmelk or kulturemelk in Norway can be translated as “cultured milk”and it is almost the same like Filmjölk in Sweden.

In both cases, we are talking about fermented milk products that have a slightly sour taste, due to the fact that bacteria consumed the sugar in the milk and a more clogged consistency than fresh milk. In the case of whole fresh milk, taken from farmers, surmelk occurs naturally, due to the presence of good bacteria in the milk and the fermentation process. But, in the case of modern, pasteurized milk, culturing must be done by man, so that the right bacteria are introduced into the milk and create the desired fermented product. Lactic acid bacteria are responsible for the process and for making the milk sour. All the assortments that are being sold with the name kulturmelk are using pure, laboratory-controlled cultures of bacteria, which triggered the name for this particular type of product. Regular kulturmelk contains a content of fat of 3.8%, while the skimmed variety has only 0.4%.