Passadoc Gazette – No 133

... so lamented Perrette* When the milk jar fell!

Since the dawn of time, milk has been a source of life; It is the only food of the little man and of many animals.

Apicius, Romain and fine gourmet (-100 BC) uses in his recipe d'omelette: beaten eggs with milk and oil, cooked in the pan and seasoned with honey and pepper.

In the Middle East, there are traces of dairy farming dating back some 10,000 years. In Gaul, as the invasions followed, new breeds of cattle appeared. Thus – to quote only one – would be « born » the Norman cow brought by the Vikings; The beast is robust and appreciated for its dairy qualities.

In Occitanie, there are mainly herds of sheep and goats, less demanding in green grass and fat.

With the milk of cows, sheep or goats, whatever the region, cheeses are made:
– Maroilles in the North,
– Camembert in Normandy,
– Blue in Auvergne,
– Brocciu in Corsica,
- Etc.!

It is present in many stories, in many expressions and in a few smiles!

– Rabelais and Gargantua who barely born demands « Drink! Drink! Drink! ». We need to Seventeen thousand nine hundred and thirteen cows of Pautille and Bréhemond to breastfeed daily.

– Remus and Romulus, nourished – according to legend – by the milk of the Luperca wolf.

– Always according to legend: Cleopatra and her baths with donkey milk... » [...] it took no less than 700 donkeys to provide him with the amount of milk necessary for his daily baths« 

– Drink small milk (feeling a deep satisfaction of self-esteem before something flattering)… Milk soup (feeling angry)
– Patience! In time, the grass becomes milk. (Chinese proverb).

– It's not the strongest cow that has the most milk (Gaelic proverb)

– When it rains on the first day of May, forage makes milk bitter. (French proverb)

– In his desire to remove intermediaries, he was looking for a way to move directly from hay to milk without going through the cow. (Alphonse Allais).

Let's stop because we could write dozens more pages!

But you can't keep milk for more than a day; It is necessary to wait until 1865 and Louis Pasteur who discovers then that, subjected to a high heat, bacteria and microbes – which make the milk curd – succumb quickly.

Farewell Perrette's milk jar! In cities, milk is bought in glass bottles while waiting to buy it in cardboard boxes.

– Where is our own milk?

Patience... He's coming!

Jeanne Monin