Ellenos Yogurt

I don’t like yogurt nearly as much as I like ice cream and custard, but I have fallen in love with Ellenos yogurt. This made-in-Seattle treasure, sold in all its glory at a stand in the Pike Place Market as well as in limited flavors at some local stores, is guaranteed to win the heart of anyone who appreciates dairy products at their most deluxe.

When I asked one of the guys dishing it out in the market why it is so good, he explained that the cows are local, the process is pure, the milk all-natural, the family formula unchanged for years, etc., etc. – none of which fully explains why it is so silk-smooth, so dense and rich and creamy, and so impossible to stop eating. While the plain yogurt is itself a revelation teetering perfectly between sweet and sour, Ellenos flavors are over the top. If made with fruits or berries, it will contain a surfeit of utterly beautiful samples thereof. Ginger yogurt is shot through with sharp, peppery flecks of fresh root. Latte yogurt is radiant with only-in-Seattle coffee flavor.

Part of me is happy that I live on the other side of the continent. Were I near a source of this magnificent stuff, I’d likely get very fat eating it every day, morning noon, and night.