The Astonishing Story of Real Milk

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Around the world, people rely on the milk of many animals — not just cows and sheep, but also goats, water buffalo, yaks, and even reindeer.
Around the world, people rely on the milk of many animals — not just cows and sheep, but also goats, water buffalo, yaks, and even reindeer.
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Versatile milk can be transformed into many wonderful forms: cheese, cream, milk, yogurt and more.
Versatile milk can be transformed into many wonderful forms: cheese, cream, milk, yogurt and more.
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Many soft cheeses are incredibly easy to make yourself.
Many soft cheeses are incredibly easy to make yourself.
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Got real milk? Today’s legal minimum standard for the fat content of “whole milk” is 3.25 percent. But is this milk “whole”? In 1929, major dairy cow breeds showed milkfat ranges from 2.9 to 8.4 percent. The average for American industrial dairy herds today is about 4 percent, with the best herds easily achieving 5 to 5.5 percent.
Got real milk? Today’s legal minimum standard for the fat content of “whole milk” is 3.25 percent. But is this milk “whole”? In 1929, major dairy cow breeds showed milkfat ranges from 2.9 to 8.4 percent. The average for American industrial dairy herds today is about 4 percent, with the best herds easily achieving 5 to 5.5 percent.
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Fresh, delicious yogurt is easy to make at home.
Fresh, delicious yogurt is easy to make at home.
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Jersey cows are well-known for giving incredibly rich and creamy milk. Hopefully, more and more dairies will turn back to this wonderful heritage breed.
Jersey cows are well-known for giving incredibly rich and creamy milk. Hopefully, more and more dairies will turn back to this wonderful heritage breed.
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It may seem strange to use another creature’s milk for food, but wherever the custom has taken hold around the world, milk has become a staple.
It may seem strange to use another creature’s milk for food, but wherever the custom has taken hold around the world, milk has become a staple.
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The creamier mouthfeel and fresher flavor of whole raw milk at a well-run farm reflect not just actual freshness but the fact that the basic milk structure is intact.
The creamier mouthfeel and fresher flavor of whole raw milk at a well-run farm reflect not just actual freshness but the fact that the basic milk structure is intact.
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Got boiled milk? Since about 1970, most supermarket milk undergoes “ultrapasteurization” — heating at or above 280 degrees Fahrenheit for about 2 seconds.
Got boiled milk? Since about 1970, most supermarket milk undergoes “ultrapasteurization” — heating at or above 280 degrees Fahrenheit for about 2 seconds.

Once upon a time, cows supplied us with delicious whole milk, wonderful fresh cream, skim milk fit to drink, refreshing soured skim milk, nutrient-rich curd and whey, truly lovely butter and real buttermilk. A single batch of fresh milk could have yielded still other transformations — yogurt, fresh cheese or clotted cream, for instance.

Like so many of today’s supermarket offerings, modern “milk” and dairy products have lost the rich flavors our ancestors enjoyed. Can we recapture the culinary magic that is ancient dairy chemistry? What’s going on with the small scale artisans who still practice this traditional magic? Could our collective voices move the American dairy industry to bring us real milk, in less manhandled and denatured form? We have reasons to be hopeful.

Dairy Foods in Today’s America

Thousands of years ago in the Near East, somebody saw an animal nursing her young and had the eccentric idea of getting in on the act. A strange custom, this, using another creature’s milk for food. But in regions where it took hold, milk became the object of prehistoric skills that we can still learn from.

In the late 1960s, before waves of immigration brought people from every corner of the globe to the United States, the American food scene had two goals: to get as many different products as possible before the buying public, and to weed out alternatives that would interfere with profits. Both aims merrily coexist today, with lunatic results exemplified by, let’s say, yogurt. You can now walk into a supermarket and take your pick of “amaretto cheesecake” nonfat yogurt, low-fat yogurt with Reese’s Pieces, or milk-free chocolate soy yogurt — without being able to find anything that people brought up on the real thing would recognize as real yogurt worth putting a spoon into.

  • Published on Aug 29, 2011
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