Blaand

{{Short description|Fermented milk product made from whey}}

Blaand, or bland, is a fermented milk product made from whey. It is acidic and has very low alcohol content.{{cite book |title=Traditional Life in Shetland |first=James R. |last=Nicolson |publisher=Robert Hale |date=1978 |page=80}}

Blaand has been a traditional drink made by farmers for their own use in Scotland, Iceland, the Faroes, and Norway for centuries. It was never commercialized; production ended in the mid-20th century. In these areas it was the most common daily drink before the introduction of modern drinks like tea and coffee.{{cite book |title=Drikkeskikker: Nordmenns drikkevaner gjennom 1000 år |first=Astri |last=Riddervold |publisher=Cappelen Damm |date=2009 |page=31 |language=no}}

Blaand could be made by diluting the whey with water first and then letting it sour.{{cite news |newspaper=Dundee People's Journal |date=19 January 1884 |title=Unknown}}{{cite web |url=https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/bland |title=Bland n., v. |work=Dictionary of the Scottish Language |date=2004 |publisher=Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. |access-date=10 February 2022}}

Another approach was to put the whey into great vats, where it was left to sour; before drinking, some of the soured whey was mixed with water to reduce the acidity. The Norwegian name, "blande," simply means "mix,"{{cite book |title=Historical Brewing Techniques: The Lost Art of Farmhouse Brewing |first=Lars Marius |last=Garshol |publisher=Brewers Publications |location=USA |date=2020 |page=251 |isbn=978-1938469558}} and the Scots word can mean the same.