Country Valley 'Lush' Natural Yoghurt

Cow's milk
Southern Highlands
500g tubs
www.countryvalley.com.au

Since leaving Sydney at the end of last year, I really miss my daily fix of Country Valley yoghurt. Most days I ate it for breakfast, and it was normally the last thing I ate at the end of the day too, just a spoonful to settle my stomach before bed.

Country Valley 'Lush' Natural Yoghurt

Why do I love it? Because it's natural. And by that, I mean it is only made with two ingredients - milk and cultures. No thickeners like gelatin or vegetable gums, no stablisers, no 'non-fat milk solids' (whatever they are), no flavours, no colours and no sweeteners. Take a look at the ingredients list on so many commercially-made yoghurts these days, and most will have at least 2 of these additives; some will have all of them!

Unlike pot-set yoghuts, which often have a slightly lumpy texture and a little bit of free whey oozing from the top, Country Valley 'Lush' is thick, glossy and voluptuous.

And it's also really acidic. Yoghurt is supposed to have a sharp, citric tang, and this is one of the most acidic on the market. I'm probably in the minority, but I love eating it straight. When I told 'John the Milkman' himself, he couldn't believe I liked it unadulterated. So I asked him, if he thinks it's too acidic, why make it that way? He said he likes to give customers the option of adding honey or fruit to suit their own taste. Fair enough.

For those who just can't take that sharp, mouth-puckering tang, John and Sally Fairley also make a naturally sweetened version (somewhat confusingly labelled "Plain Yoghurt", in a blue tub), which is a lot easier on the palate. It still has a sharp acidity underneath, but it's perfectly balanced by just the right amount of sweetness.

So perfect, in fact, that it won Champion Yoghurt at the Sydney Royal Dairy Produce Show this year. Again.

Over the Moon Non-Homogenised Yoghurt

Yoghurt
Cow's milk (Jersey)
Mid-North Coast
350g or 550g tubs
www.overthemoonmilk.com.au
www.johnsonsfarmgate.com.au

OK, so it's not exactly cheese, but it's one step closer to immortality than plain old milk. Not that there's anything plain about Over the Moon milk - it's 100% Jersey, non-homogenised and absolutely luscious! The milk comes from a single herd of grass-fed Jersey cows in the Hastings Valley, near Wauchope, and is sold by Johnson's Farmgate at various farmers' markets around Sydney and the Hunter Valley.

Over the Moon Yoghurt

The yoghurt is just full cream milk with cultures - no thickeners, no milk solids, no flavourings. I picked it up at the Newcastle Farmers' Market on the weekend.

Like non-homogenised milk, there's a thick layer of cream on the top. Underneath, the yoghurt might look a little lumpy, but the texture is silky smooth, and the flavour is mild and sweet with a very faint lemony tang. It has an absolutely clean, refreshing finish, with no cloying mouthfeel. So many commercial plain yoghurts leave a distinct 'essence of wet cow' character lingering on the back of my palate, but not this one.

When I asked the farmer what the cows are eating at the moment, he answered proudly, "grass". I commented that it's obvious they're not being fed silage, because there's no nutty flavours. "Just wait till Spring when the clover comes on," he said. "You can really taste the difference then." I'm looking forward to that.