Fil - culinary experiment with unexpected results...

There is a lot of foods I miss from Sweden, that I used to take for granted. All the different kinds of cheese, bread, and things there's no really good equivalent to. One of those is fil. Not any kind of fil, but a-fil (with lactobacillus acidophilus bacteria, very good for the stomach, very mild and awesome taste). Fil is milk with bacteria, with a consistency of (stirred) yoghurt, and a taste that vaguely reminds of buttermilk. My friend Steve got converted to it as well, and imported some to Scotland where he managed to reproduce it in his yoghurt maker. Encouraged by his success, I thought I'd do the same. I had, previously, gotten my hands on dried kefir culture and successfully made kefir (similar, but somewhat different taste - there is a plethora of different kinds of fil! ), so I thought it should be a simple thing to reproduce some non-dried fil!

Steve was kind enough to bring me a yoghurt maker from Scotland when he stopped by Winnipeg on his Canada tour earlier this summer, to increase my chances for success! And so, during D's and mine 2 week sejour in Sweden in August, we filled our bags with stuff to bring home. One of them: A whole litre of a-fil.

The first attempt I did with UHT milk, so as to not have to sterilize the milk myself. I mixed the appropriate amount of my fil with the milk, and added the hot water to the thermos, surrounding the container with the mixture, and waited. Nothing. Added more water, waited double the amount of time. (we're talking ca 8-12 hours normally, now turning into 24). Still nothing.

After some consultation with the expert, I started Attempt two. I used normal milk, heated it to 82 degrees, let it cool down to 24, added culture (more this time), etc etc, and waited. If this didn't work, surely my a-fil was dead. And, nothing, 12 and 16 hours later. Added the remainder of my a-fil in case some bacteria might still be alive. waited more. Worked far too long on my thesis chapter at school, came home late, and opened the thermos 24 hours after the refill, and voìla (the picure shows a 1 litre container filled with...):

Cheese!!! A-fil-cheese. So the bacteria now worked with a vengeance! What am I supposed to do with a-fil cheese? I love cheese, but I'm not sure about this one... For now, it's in the fridge, until someone can come up with some good ideas. And I'm all out of a-fil now, sob.