Snapshots from Greece: Fage Yogurt
"It seems to spark an obsessive quality in people."
As a Fage enthusiast, I was pretty excited to visit the yogurt's motherland. Within the first few hours of arriving in Greece, I wandered into a corner convenience store and zeroed in on the fridge section. There it was in Greek letters: ΦΑΓΈ (pronounced fah-yehhh).
Greeks eat yogurt around the clock: at breakfast (even though they're not big breakfast people), as a snack, and definitely for dessert. To counter the tartness, they pour on the honey. Greeks have a lot of pride in their honey, especially thyme honey, claiming it's some of the best golden sticky stuff in the world. Because of the country's long sunshine periods, the Greek bees can buzz around to all kinds of plants.
It was kind of surprising to find out that Fage is made of cow’s milk (approximately four pounds go into just one pound of yogurt, which is why it's so insanely thick). Greeks don't eat a lot of beef—it's a pretty lamb-intensive diet with more seafood in the coastal regions. But the cows that are around must be keeping Fage in business.
Fage has only been in the U.S. market since 2001, but originated in 1926 on a small dairy in Athens. As Greece's biggest dairy company, Fage also produces cheese (obviously feta, in addition to other lesser-known Greek kinds like graviera and trikalino) and milk, which I've never spotted in the U.S.
But let's be honest—it's all about the yogurt. It seems to spark an obsessive quality in people. Is it the cream cheese–caliber thickness that somehow doesn't leave you feeling grossly heavy? Is it the lack of corn-syrupy sweetness usually found in other packaged yogurts? Is it the fact that you drop $2 for a little tub and feel like the splurge has to be pretty awesome? (Note: it wasn't any cheaper in Greece.) Is it the weird, crusty white film that dries on your spoon afterward? Oh, Fage. All the other yogurts bow down to you.
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16 Comments:
I. Love. Fage.
looloopoopie at 1:49PM on 07/13/09
I am a total convert to Greek Gods, especially the honey flavor. Produced in Seattle, WA, it is woefully inauthentic, but I do not care.
Michele Humes at 2:24PM on 07/13/09
I must eat some Fage every single day, usually in the morning and generally right out of the container. My Shop Rite just started to stock the 35.3(1000 g) container, so I can save some $. I love it in its tart creamy glory, sometimes I'll add some fruit. Nothing beats Fage. How's that for obsessive addiction?!
ride&cook at 2:40PM on 07/13/09
We get it in the UK too. Makes the best Tzaztiki ever!
mrbill1234 at 2:52PM on 07/13/09
it's because it goes both sweet and savory and never feels out of place! i end up using fage instead of sour cream on many a dish...
laurbelle2 at 3:16PM on 07/13/09
Low-fat yogurts are usually awful, but the Fage Total 2% is remarkably good, and only 130 calories for 200g (about 7oz). It actually tastes like yogurt instead of sour gunk! My husband will eat it with just about anything, we even went on a special honey shopping tour just to go with it.
lyricanjl at 3:50PM on 07/13/09
zackola at 4:11PM on 07/13/09
Fage + a little bit of pumpkin butter = immediate gratification version of pumpkin cheesecake. Use Fage 0% and it's like non-fat cheesecake. Sooooo yummy.
disbelief11 at 4:27PM on 07/13/09
Also just got back from Greece and ate my fair share of Fage. Although I love their yogurt, my favorite was the Fage Rice Pudding, which I have had no luck finding anywhere in NYC:
http://www.fage.gr/page/default.asp?id=593&la=2
Hopefully it will arrive state-side sometime soon!
danimal898 at 7:23PM on 07/13/09
@ Michelle Humes: Greek Goddess Yogurt (Hermes) is totally the best, and Ihavetoagreewithyouomg.
hefloats at 7:53PM on 07/13/09
Fage is made regionally. There's a plant here in upstate NY.
cara_mia at 8:00PM on 07/13/09
@disbelief11 - isn't the pumpkin butter the best with the greek yogurt? i use greek gods, it's also great -- i also use pear butter and apple butter for variety..... but right now the pumpkin butter is the flavor of choice.
pooch at 9:58PM on 07/13/09
Oh, how I love Fage. I've even gotten my mother and sister, who hate plain yogurt, eating it! I didn't know about not stirring it -- it's usually gone before I even think of looking at the container, but now I'll have to try it undisturbed ..
kfarrel3 at 3:40PM on 07/14/09
i eat it with honey, blueberries and flax meal..even my 9 yr old loves it .. plain.. the 0% kind. wow! Hooray..
harperemma at 2:58PM on 07/15/09
I wish it was available in Canada. For now, I'm stuck stuffing myself with yogurt when I visit the U.S.
piccola at 11:02PM on 07/17/09
i have mine with freeze dried mango and walnuts.
cybercita at 1:36AM on 07/19/09