On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 28

grapes,thenomadicTartarsevenfermented
mare’smilkintolightlyalcoholickoumiss,
whichMarcoPolodescribedashaving“the
qualitiesandflavorofwhitewine.”Inthe
highcountryofMongoliaandTibet,cow,
camel,andyakmilkwaschurnedtobutterfor
useasahigh-energystaplefood.
InsemitropicalIndia,mostzebuand
buffalomilkwasallowedtosourovernight
intoayogurt,thenchurnedtoyieldbuttermilk
andbutter,whichwhenclarifiedintoghee(p.
37)wouldkeepformonths.Somemilkwas
repeatedlyboiledtokeepitsweet,andthen
preservednotwithsalt,butbythe
combinationofsugarandlong,dehydrating
cooking(seebox,p.26).
TheMediterraneanworldofGreeceand
Romeusedeconomicaloliveoilratherthan
butter,butesteemedcheese.TheRomanPliny
praisedcheesesfromdistantprovincesthat
arenowpartsofFranceandSwitzerland.And
indeedcheesemakingreacheditszenithin


continentalandnorthernEurope,thanksto
abundantpasturelandidealforcattle,anda
temperateclimatethatallowedlong,gradual
fermentations.
TheonemajorregionoftheOldWorldnot
toembracedairyingwasChina,perhaps
becauseChineseagriculturebeganwherethe

naturalvegetationrunstooftentoxicrelatives
ofwormwoodandepazoteratherthan
ruminant-friendlygrasses.Evenso,frequent
contactwithcentralAsiannomadsintroduced
avarietyofdairyproductstoChina,whose
elitelongenjoyedyogurt,koumiss,butter,
acid-setcurds,and,around1300andthanksto
theMongols,evenmilkintheirtea!
DairyingwasunknownintheNewWorld.
Onhissecondvoyagein1493,Columbus
broughtsheep,goats,andthefirstofthe
Spanishlonghorncattlethatwouldproliferate
inMexicoandTexas.
Milk in Europe and America: From