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Fermented milk from Sweden, more common in the north

Långfillångfil

Långfil is the Swedish "long" soured milk, with a long, almost elastic texture. Wikipedia says it is filmjölk made with fil culture plus Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis var. longi, a strain that makes long chains of polysaccharide.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Långfil itself. Its own sources do not record how it is made, so the steps and scenes below are those of Tjukkmjølk (Økologisk Tjukkmjølk fra Røros, PGI), the closest documented fermented milk ferment, shown as a guide to the method, not as a record of Långfil.

Short entryFermented milk

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo source seen gives amounts.
Cow milk
Fil culture with Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis var. longiWikipedia lists this as the culture of commercial långfil[wp]
Starterdefined-culture: fil culture plus Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis var. longi, as listed for commercial långfil

Total time across the steps of Tjukkmjølk (Økologisk Tjukkmjølk fra Røros, PGI): 24 h

Start
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What changes: Fresh milk poured over butterwort leaves picks up the culture

Step 1 of 4 · steps of Tjukkmjølk (Økologisk Tjukkmjølk fra Røros, PGI)
Historical start on butterwort leaves
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis

Output: the first tettemelk, then kept alive by adding a little to raw milk.

Flavour
mild sour
Texture
sets thick
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

lactic bacteria on the leaves seed the milk

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Långfil is the Swedish "long" soured milk, with a long, almost elastic texture. Wikipedia says it is filmjölk made with fil culture plus Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis var. longi, a strain that makes long chains of polysaccharide. Slime-forming Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris and Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis var. longi, added with the fil culture in commercial långfil do most of the fermenting.

What makes this one different

Långfil is soured by slime-forming lactococci, so it stretches into threads, unlike the short, spoonable filmjölk made with ordinary mesophilic cultures.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Tätmjölk / tettemelk with butterwortStarted with butterwort leaves (see tatmjolk-butterwort).
  • Tjukkmjølk (Norway)Norwegian protected ropy milk; see tjukkmjolk-roros.

Safety

Mesophilic soured milk made from pasteurised milk; keep it cold once set.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Arla began selling långfil in 1965, and the word långfil has been in the Swedish language since 1896 (Wikipedia).

  1. [toba1991] Toba T., Kotani T., Adachi S. 1991, Capsular polysaccharide of a slime-forming Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris LAPT 3001 isolated from Swedish fermented milk 'långfil', International Journal of Food Microbiology 12(2–3):167–171 (abstract)paper
  2. [viili24] Rampanti G. et al. 2024, Technological and enzymatic characterization of autochthonous lactic acid bacteria isolated from viili natural starters, Foods 13:1115 (related Nordic ropy milk)paper
  3. [wp] Wikipedia, Filmjölk (history and the culture listed for långfil)wiki