You may or may not know this about Bulgarians but Bulgarians are serious about their yogurt. In comparison, I am not. The first time I ever had homemade yogurt was last March. I documented this in a post titled: <a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/03/11/its-friday-i-am-in-love/" target="_blank">It's Friday I am in Love.</a>

I mean Bulgarians are so serious about yogurt that they have their own yogurt strain. Or if you're hip to the yogurt terminology their own yogurt culture: <em>Lactobacillus bulgaricus.</em>

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="614" caption="Homemade yogurt"]<a class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Large" title="Homemade yogurt" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6461776599/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6461776599_5a4206162c_b.jpg" alt="Homemade yogurt" width="614" height="410" /></a>[/caption]

In comparison, I am a yogurt novice.

At the grocery store I buy yogurt based on the container. Sometimes I go for the one with old Bulgarian renaissance houses other times I feel like the one with a grandmother and once in a while I spring for the one with an ugly baby on it. Mostly it depends on my mood and which one is nearest at hand when I decide that I need yogurt.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="614" caption="Bulgarian yogurt in a jar"]<a class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Large" title="Bulgarian yogurt in a jar" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6461764501/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7157/6461764501_5857c4dd90_b.jpg" alt="Bulgarian yogurt in a jar" width="614" height="410" /></a>[/caption]

Don't get me wrong, I am not a flavored yogurt girl. Oh no. But I am in no way shape or form as serious about yogurt as most Bulgarians are. I like plain slightly tart yogurt.

I'll eat it plain. I'll add granola or jam. I'll drizzle honey on it. I'll makes dips out of it. I'll stir it into soup.

But for the majority of my life I've been the buy it at the store girl. <!--more-->I don't know anyone in the States who makes their own yogurt. The yogurt <em>de jour</em> in the States is made from cow's milk.

Only here in Bulgaria is probably just as easy to get cow's mild yogurt as sheep's milk yogurt. <em>Variety</em>! What's more, it seems like lots of people make yogurt at home.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="614" caption="Super thick Bulgarian yogurt"]<a class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Large" title="Super thick Bulgarian yogurt" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6461772245/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6461772245_7fe8cc371a_b.jpg" alt="Super thick Bulgarian yogurt" width="614" height="410" /></a>[/caption]

This said, I've been given some serious yogurt. It's incredibly thick. My amateur opinion/observation is this: the yogurt doesn't seem to have any water in it. It seems to be tangier than other yogurts I am used to eating. It's almost earthy. I like it.

Good thing too. I've got two big jars of it in my fridge.  Two big jars and I really had to wrestle with one of them to get it open this morning. Sure it probably took me longer than it should have. I really hadn't had enough coffee at that point and it took me awhile to figure out that I was spinning the lid around without making any progress at actually unscrewing it. <em>Awesome</em>. Some people wake up awesome. Not me. I wake up <em>nearly</em> awesome.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="614" caption="Homemade Bulgarian yogurt"]<a class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Large" title="Bulgarian yogurt" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6461766193/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6461766193_741f82d476_b.jpg" alt="Bulgarian yogurt" width="614" height="410" /></a>[/caption]

Anyhow this is a really long lead up for me to ask this question: how long can something like homemade yogurt last in my fridge?