On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 23

from it, and sheep and goats were born
fromit.
—TheRgVeda,Book10,ca.1200BCE
…Iamcomedowntodeliver[mypeople]
out of the hands of the Egyptians, and to
bringthemupoutofthatlanduntoagood
land and a large, unto a land flowing with
milkandhoney….
—GodtoMosesonMountHoreb(Exodus
3:8)
Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and
curdledmelikecheese?
—JobtoGod(Job10:10)
TheRiseoftheRuminants

Allmammalsproducemilkfortheiryoung,
butonlyacloselyrelatedhandfulhavebeen
exploitedbyhumans.Cattle,waterbuffalo,
sheep,goats,camels,yaks:thesesuppliersof
plentywerecreatedbyascarcityoffood.


Around30millionyearsago,theearth’s
warm,moistclimatebecameseasonallyarid.
Thisshiftfavoredplantsthatcouldgrow
quicklyandproduceseedstosurvivethedry
period,andcausedagreatexpansionof
grasslands,whichinthedryseasonsbecamea
seaofdesiccated,fibrousstalksandleaves.So
beganthegradualdeclineofthehorsesand
theexpansionofthedeerfamily,the

ruminants,whichevolvedtheabilityto
surviveondrygrass.Cattle,sheep,goats,and
theirrelativesareallruminants.
Thekeytotheriseoftheruminantsistheir
highlyspecialized,multichamberstomach,
whichaccountsforafifthoftheirbodyweight
andhousestrillionsoffiber-digesting
microbes,mostoftheminthefirstchamber,
orrumen.Theiruniqueplumbing,together
withthehabitofregurgitatingandrechewing
partlydigestedfood,allowsruminantsto
extractnourishmentfromhigh-fiber,poorqualityplantmaterial.Ruminantsproduce