It's amazing how the things you take for granted have to be looked at in a whole different way in a new culture. For instance, milk. I've always been a big fan of milk, buying my gallon of 1%, and usually having no trouble finishing it off—between cereal in the morning and a glass of cold or hot with chocolate at night—before it goes bad.
Don't try to find that gallon of milk in Chennai, though. Half gallon? Nope. Liter?
Well, that you can hunt down, as long as you don't look in the refrigerated section. No, it's right there on the shelf, complete with warnings that it's "best" before 120 days from manufacture, and should be refrigerated once it's opened. Now that's a good deal--just load up those pantry shelves and toss one in the fridge the night before you're going to need it. One problem—could you see this coming?—it's just not that tasty. Whatever "toned" and "flash heated" mean, it's not "taste unaffected." As usual, you pay a price for convenience.
Yes, there is another option for the milk connoisseur. You can buy a half-liter of pasturized, delicious milk in a bag. But this you need to drink within a day, or two at the most. As usual, you pay a price for taste.
Could there be a best-of-both-worlds? Yes, there is, when you live in India, with a sweet, elderly widow. I don't know if they're called "milk men," but there are people who will deliver these bags of milk right to your door in Chennai! In fact, some of the gates have milk boxes mounted on them. When I discovered that my landlady had a bag (or maybe two) delivered each day, I asked if I could get one each day along with her. Since she has assumed quite a bit of responsibility for my health and welfare—and there's really nothing I can do about it one way or the other—she went right to work on it.
There's one more thing you should know. Traditionally Indians have boiled their milk before using it. There was a day when it was essential, but now the bagged milk is pasteurized,
and it is not necessary. But—and I report this based on observation and discussion—the older generation just isn't comfortable drinking milk that hasn't been boiled. Those in my generation will freely admit that it isn't necessary, even as they are going about the daily ritual of boiling it. So, my landlady takes my bag of milk each day and puts it into a "milk boiler" until it whistles for a while. Then she pours it into a little metal kettle that she has set aside for my use. (Warm milk on cereal is really a lot tastier than it first sounds.) After I finish off my day's worth of milk in the evening, I wash out the kettle and make sure it's back on the dining room table before I go to bed, so it will be filled with delicious milk once again, before I arise for the day!
Okay, yet one more thing you just have to hear on this subject. I know some of you remember the days of the milkman bringing the bottles to your doorstep. My landlady remembers when they used to bring the cow from house to house and fill up their containers!
Don't try to find that gallon of milk in Chennai, though. Half gallon? Nope. Liter?
Well, that you can hunt down, as long as you don't look in the refrigerated section. No, it's right there on the shelf, complete with warnings that it's "best" before 120 days from manufacture, and should be refrigerated once it's opened. Now that's a good deal--just load up those pantry shelves and toss one in the fridge the night before you're going to need it. One problem—could you see this coming?—it's just not that tasty. Whatever "toned" and "flash heated" mean, it's not "taste unaffected." As usual, you pay a price for convenience.Yes, there is another option for the milk connoisseur. You can buy a half-liter of pasturized, delicious milk in a bag. But this you need to drink within a day, or two at the most. As usual, you pay a price for taste.
Could there be a best-of-both-worlds? Yes, there is, when you live in India, with a sweet, elderly widow. I don't know if they're called "milk men," but there are people who will deliver these bags of milk right to your door in Chennai! In fact, some of the gates have milk boxes mounted on them. When I discovered that my landlady had a bag (or maybe two) delivered each day, I asked if I could get one each day along with her. Since she has assumed quite a bit of responsibility for my health and welfare—and there's really nothing I can do about it one way or the other—she went right to work on it.
There's one more thing you should know. Traditionally Indians have boiled their milk before using it. There was a day when it was essential, but now the bagged milk is pasteurized,
and it is not necessary. But—and I report this based on observation and discussion—the older generation just isn't comfortable drinking milk that hasn't been boiled. Those in my generation will freely admit that it isn't necessary, even as they are going about the daily ritual of boiling it. So, my landlady takes my bag of milk each day and puts it into a "milk boiler" until it whistles for a while. Then she pours it into a little metal kettle that she has set aside for my use. (Warm milk on cereal is really a lot tastier than it first sounds.) After I finish off my day's worth of milk in the evening, I wash out the kettle and make sure it's back on the dining room table before I go to bed, so it will be filled with delicious milk once again, before I arise for the day!Okay, yet one more thing you just have to hear on this subject. I know some of you remember the days of the milkman bringing the bottles to your doorstep. My landlady remembers when they used to bring the cow from house to house and fill up their containers!
6 comments:
Wow, fresh from cow delivery! I like it. You'd need to boil that. You didn't mention the taste of boiled milk. I would think it would adversely affect the flavor, but I guess you find it agreeable.
Oh, I do remember getting milk delivered to our milk box at the front door, only it was a milkman, not a mailman :-) I suppose you'll go back and edit that now. If you do you can remove this last part too. :-)
Dad is laughing his head off about the cow delivering milk to the door. Your sis told me about this blog; I couldn't believe you wrote two in two days!! Way to go!!!!!
Thanks, Mel, I guess I never would have caught that. I can't edit your comment, so it's there for all to see my error.
I loved this entry! Just how much does a bag of milk cost?
My family enjoys milk too. So when we lived in Peru, we too ended up buying 'boxed milk', usually a dozen at a time. There was fresh milk available at the store, but 4 times out of 5 it was already spoiled before we bought it due to poor handling by the store. The taste of the boxed mile was not as good but when it was cold it was tolerable.
Buying fresh milk was one of the highlights of returning to the States and something everyone looked forward to.
Donna, it's Rs. 8 (rupees) per day. That's about $.20, so not a bad deal.
Thanks for your comment, Andy. Reminds me that I'm pretty spoiled; I could well be making due with those boxes, in which case fresh milk would be quite high on my list of things I was looking forward to, also.
Oh, and Mel, I really haven't noticed a difference in the taste of the boiled milk. Maybe I'm not that much of a connoisseur. If there is a difference, maybe taste is part of the reason people continue to do it.
Post a Comment