When a new Williams-Sonoma catalog arrived in the mailbox last week, I hesitated before throwing it away. There was a time when I collected appliances like pairs of shoes (seasonally and for specific occasions), and I own a pizzelle maker, a manual pasta extruder with multiple attachments, and a gelato contraption that works without those freezable bowls. The collection does extend beyond Italian specialty machines, but these exemplify my culinary technology commitment level during that wonderful period when I had the motivation to cook my way through each issue of Cook’s Illustrated.

And then I bought a tomato press from W-S, sort of a food mill for tomatoes that sort of worked in an effort to produce smooth tomato bases, and the silly thing wouldn’t fit in a cabinet, and I finally realized how precious kitchen space had become. I abandoned the press and tried to ease my way out of recipes that required new equipment with gateway appliances like a cast iron skillet that I used to roast tomatillos in their skins (those were the days when Lodge wasn’t phasing out their traditional skillet finish for pre-seasoned versions) and a tortilla press.

The one item that continues to taunt me from the catalog, though, the one that makes me flip through and make sure they still carry it, is a yogurt maker. A yogurt parfait can be lovelier than ice cream; when I own a bed and breakfast in the distant future, some mornings I will serve very cold vanilla yogurt layered with macerated berries and homemade granola, circling the breakfast room of the Victorian mansion I will have restored (by myself) pronouncing “yoghurt” like Nigella Lawson before I slip back into the kitchen to enjoy my own parfait. Since hardcore foodies tend to frequent b&bs, the yogurt will need to be made either in my kitchen, a local kitchen, or, readily available in a nearby upscale grocery imported from some exotic locale. Like Iceland.

Part of a mid-Atlantic chain rollout of Icelandic products that began last year, skyr appeared last week in our Whole Foods refrigerated dairy aisle. With 19g of sugar, about 10g less than sweet yogurts surrounding it on the shelves and 13g more than the tangy Greek Fage yogurt (one variation does include an attached portion of honey), the vanilla skyr looked like an excellent new yogurt competitor in the midrange sugar category. Except that skyr is not yogurt, but a cheese made from skimmed milk. The nutritional details interest me mostly because the vanilla skyr has 0 grams of fat. I’m not one to promote less fat versions of anything; I may be fascinated by CR and question deciding not to dance at Interlochen one summer in high school, but I appreciate fattening dairy.

I noticed the little spoon on top, though, and I cannot resist zippy product design.

I bought three and gleefully discovered the spoon’s locking mechanism, squared edges like a gelato spoon, and ideal twisting radius for the 6 ounce container’s corners.

It is the front label that interests me most, however, being at once the browser address for the product and the product name: skyr.is. The dairy item that is part of Icelandic culture, lowercase skyr, is joined by the punctuation mark of the Web 2.0 moment, the period, to the ISO country code of Iceland, is.

One of new rules for naming social applications requires either leaving out a vowel or breaking up a name with periods. With the .com suffix the norm (and skyr.com promising to open soon), the .is attached to the product signals related localization trends in web design, tagging, and egulleteering. Foodies insist upon exact details in food processing and, likewise, sites are beginning to address issues of a global audience. Still, I remain unconvinced that an American product with an international distribution would use a label with .us tacked onto the end of the product name unless, of course, those letters already sat at the end of the word (reverse engineering in a naming context) and a few periods thrown in judiciously could align the product or service with “eating cherries” deliciously.

Related posts:

1. Islands in the Stream

1. cbd:
   November 5th, 2006 at 11:40 pm

   And, a cool pun on “ice”.

2. e. fiction:
   November 6th, 2006 at 9:32 pm

   You’ve left us hanging! Does skyr.is taste good?

3. Kristen:
   November 7th, 2006 at 12:18 am

   Mouthfeel is more solid and custardy than most American yogurts. This is Icelandic fast food, so fruits and sugar are sometimes stirred in; the product itself separates in the container and needs to be shaken before opening.
   I’m fond of the consistency and the taste of the vanilla flavor, although I’ll be happier when the unflavored is available and I can stir in my own vanilla sugar. I have not tried the strawberry or blueberry flavors carried at Whole Foods (I don’t generally like the jammy fruit filling at the bottom of yogurts); mostly, I’m trying not to overindulge, although with 17g of protein (about a third of the recommended daily allowance) this is a nice power breakfast or snack, especially for vegetarians.

4. Stephanie:
   April 24th, 2007 at 10:46 am

   I just found your post while googling skyr – I tried it for the first time last night. I just wanted to put my word in for the yogurt maker – I have been making yogurt for the last couple of years and love it! I started with an ebayed 70s Salton yogurt maker with milk glass cups, but after breaking a couple I got this one from amazon.com instead. I make granola too and it’s such a good combo!

5. Mariah:
   June 9th, 2007 at 2:58 pm

   Hello, I have recently spent a little over two weeks in Iceland and have discovered skyr. Every morning while in Iceland i had a vanilla skyr with granola and bananas. I fell in love with the yogurt and brought some home for my family to try and the also really enjoyed it. I think the vanilla skyr was thicker or heavier than the yogurt I usually find in the US and the vanilla was not as sweet as most of the US yogurts.

   I have not been able to find skyr in Minnesota and am going through withdrawls! Where did you purchase the skyr yogurt in the US? Does anyone know who carries it here in the US?

6. Kristen:
   June 10th, 2007 at 1:16 am

   Mariah,

   Try the Whole Foods in your area. I know that not all the Whole Foods carry skyr, but it’s probably the best place to look first (they may be able to special order it from another Whole Foods). Good luck—

7. Dana:
   October 30th, 2007 at 9:49 am

   Two years ago I also tried granola and Skyr while staying in Iceland, and eagerly awaited seeing the yoghurt like concoction in stores. Unfortunately I’ve moved to a rural area where Whole Foods is over 100 miles away. I found your blog while searching for a recipe for the yummy Icelandic granola. Guess I will have to wing it.

   The other Icelandic product I would love to find: Sirius chocolate. The bar we bought was heavy as a gold brick and tasted gloriously decadent. I was sad when we divided up the last tiny bit.

   Nice pictures — I forgot all about the nifty folding spoons.

8. Kristen:
   October 30th, 2007 at 9:59 am

   Dana, you can order Sirius chocolate here, I think.

   I’ve just had a friend return from Iceland full of food stories, and I’m now planning a visit where I hope to learn how to make skyr (I will, of course, blog the details).

   Let us know what you discover in your Icelandic granola recipe tests–

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Posted Sunday, November 5th, 2006, 5:58 pm * Filed in Design, Food. * . Follow responses through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.