Raw Milk + Yogurt

Boo-yeah! I just got myself a raw milk hook-up and I'm so excited about it. A certain unnamed natural grocery chain has stopped carrying raw milk, and while I don't drink a ton of milk anyway, every now and then I do love a frosty glass of deliciousness. And the universe provides! Yesterday a tall man (don't worry, he's a friend) with a half gallon of milk from his family farm arrived at my door. I sure am a lucky girl.

So there's a lot of issues that surround raw milk, and if I delve too deeply into any of them this could be a very long post. I think instead I'll try to touch on a few points to pique your interest, and provide lots of links for further reading. You can start with this Wikipedia article on raw milk if you like.

Health Benefits
So if you've ever taken an interest in raw foods or even talked to a raw-foodist, you'll know that one of the main benefits is enzymes. Enzymes are naturally occurring in most foods and aid in digestion. You can even purchase digestive enzymes (such as papaya enzymes - pineapple and papaya are very high in natural enzymes, hence the burning or drying sensation you get in your mouth if you eat too much of those), which are helpful after a big heavy meal. Enzymes are fairly delicate though, and they are one of the first nutrients to be killed off in cooking. So delicate in fact, that most raw-foodists stick with foods that are prepared under 118 degrees to preserve them. Commercial milk can either be pasteurized HTST (high temperature/short time) at 161 degrees for 15-20 seconds, or UHT (ultra high temperature) at 250 degrees for a fraction of a second. One enzyme that is killed in this process is lactase, which interestingly enough helps break down lactose. I've heard of many folks who are lactose intolerant doing very well with raw milk.

The Weston A. Price foundation is one of the leading advocates for raw milk, and you can find a bunch of info about health benefits here: http://www.realmilk.com

Food Safety
The retail sale of raw milk is banned in many states of the US and many countries, including Canada. To me this is one of those really interesting intersections of food safety, natural food, and food politics. The pasteurization of milk was only necessary once we adopted industrial farming practices. It is my belief that animals that are raised in a clean and ethical way and fed a diet that is natural to them will produce meat and milk that is clean and free from pathogens. I'm no food scientist, but it makes sense to me that food that is consumed the way our grandparents (or great-grandparents) did, and as close to nature as possible, will be the best for our health. One of my favorite food politics websites, ethicurean.com, has a bunch of articles about the raw milk debate. Here's one that's a year or two old, but it gives you a good foundation for what the basic food safety and political implications are: California's Raw Milk Bill.

Cow Breeds
There are two main raw milk producers in California who sell to retail stores: Organic Pastures and Claravale. Claravale is one of my favorite raw milk producers, they package in glass (similar to Straus - a great company but they pasteurize their milk), and they use 100% milk from Jersey cows. Most of the milk and meat we consume in this country comes from Holsteins, so even just for the sake of diversifying the kinds of species we consume I think Jersey's are great. They're also incredibly cute! I was delighted when my tall friend told me they have Jerseys on his farm. Jersey milk is higher in butterfat and beta-carotene. Here's the Wiki article on Jerseys.

Uses
Why, drink it! With a high fat content milk I think it tastes best really cold. Other ideas: chocolate milk! I just blended up some of my milk with raw cacao (hello antioxidants!) and raw local honey (hello homeopathic allergy remedy!) and it was de-lish. Also, yogurt! Homemade yogurt is super easy. You can google some yogurt recipes, but most of them will tell you to cook your milk. Here's how I do it to preserve all the enzymatic goodness:

1. Get a big ceramic or glass jar. When it comes to culturing (sauerkraut, kombucha, or yogurt), plastic just creeps me out. Plastic is creepy anyway.
2. You can buy yogurt starter (Yogourmet is one brand) or use a few tablespoons of existing yogurt.
3. Shake up your milk with your starter or the pre-existing yogurt.
4. Leave in a warm place for 24 hours (90-110 degrees). If you can't maintain a temp of 90, you can let it culture longer. Longer culturing or higher temps (remember to keep it under 110 or so so as not to cook it) will result in tangier yogurt.
5. It will probably be a little more watery than store-bought yogurt. You can either enjoy it this way, or you can strain it to thicken. Whey will be the watery by-product of straining your yogurt, and whey is a great source of protein. It is super tangy, but you can use it in smoothies, drink it straight, or I've heard you can water your plants with it. The longer you strain the thicker your yogurt will be, and eventually it will be more cream cheese consistency. This is actually how you make labneh, which is a middle-eastern yogurt cheese.
6. To strain, use cheesecloth or a thin clean dishtowel. Lay the towel in a big bowl, pour in your yogurt, and tie up the edges of the towel to make a little bundle. You'll have to find a way to rig up your bundle to hang about a foot above the bowl, the bowl will collect your whey and the towel will contain your greek style yogurt or labneh. Labneh is a lot of fun to salt and herb and use on crackers.

Moo!