NEFF The Ingredient - "Milk"

W H A T ’ S

N E W

I N

T H E

N E F F

K I T C H E N

MILK WITHOUT THE MOO:

LIFE IN THE COW'S LANE:

AFFINEUR HERVE MONS AND HIS CHEESES

THE BEST A LT E R N AT I V E S AVA I L A B L E

A FA R M I N G CO U P L E A N D T H E I R H A P P Y C AT T L E

a an out zine d h m i tre ow lk at we it

HA N WI DLE C A TH RE A ma ! ab g

LIMITLESS D E D I C AT I O N :

MARCH 2017

THE MILK ISSUE ― M A R C H 2 0 17 ―

EDITORIAL ― M A R C H 2 0 17 ―

Dear readers, In this issue of The Ingredient, we’re taking a closer look at a controversial food topic.

MILK.

COVER PHOTOGR APHY

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REINHARD HUNGER & CHRISTOPH HIMMEL

Just a few years back, school milk was considered an important daily contribution to public health, and drinking a glass of milk a day was thought to keep the doctor away. A whole industry did very well off the back of the radiant image of milk, that most basic, most fundamental of all foods – milk being, after all, the first food we human beings get when we come into the world. Yet as far as consumers are concerned, milk is no longer the Great White Hope it once was.

Nowadays, the tone in which milk is talked about veers from idealisation to demonisation and back again, which says a lot about how we view food and our relationship to it in general.

That’s why The Ingredient decided to start looking for the story between the extremes. We examine the rich variety of culinary applications for milk – with Hervé Mons, one of the world’s leading cheese affineurs from the Auvegne, who explains the art of maturing cheese. On the search for an environmentally sustainable and ethically sound approach to dairy farming, we meet the Rutschmanns on their homestead.

And the fact that milk doesn’t always have to come from cows – and where it can come from instead – is the subject of our fact check. Find out what alternatives to cow’s milk taste like and how healthy they really are.

Beyond that, this issue offers a whole range of interesting and inspiring information – and lots of tasty recipes involving our headline ingredient.

We hope you enjoy the magazine, Your NEFF editorial staff

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CONTENTS ― M A R C H 2 0 17 ―

GROWING OLD G R A C E F U L LY

16 T H E A R T O F M AT U R I N G C H E E S E He used to drive in the Paris-Dakar rally.

Today, he‘s one of the world‘s best known af fineurs. Storing his cheese in a tunnel on the edge of the Auvergne region, he showed the hear t of his cheese empire to our repor ter Franziska Wischmann.

COLD-HEARTED COOKERY

MASTER OF THE EARTH

38

50

Curing, marinating, freezing and more.

Cooking the fridge is not an oxymoron, and each temperature zone is ideal for dishes both sweet and savour y using a variety of techniques.

If you drink milk, you‘ll need a container.

Austrian potter Matthias Kaiser uses clay to make bold and beautiful jugs, bowls and sculptures. We talk to him about ar t, creativity and his uncompromising approach.

4

08 I N T R O News, stories, facts and figures about milk across the world.

MORE STORIES

28 T H E

MILKING SYSTEM

Which foods are made from milk - and where?

An organigram.

PHOTOGR APHY

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A I L I N E L I E F E L D (1), R . H U N G E R & C . H I M M E L ( 3), L I S A E D I (1)

30 O N RASPBERRY PA R FA IT AND PIKE-PERCH FILETS

T HE B E AU T Y FA R M

Happy cows, healthy milk. A repor tage

about farmers Silvia and Alfred Rutschmann.

56

HANDSOME AND HANDY

Looks good, lasts long, tastes good.

PLUS BOOKLET O F 14 R EC I P E S T O KEEP

NICE TO EAT YOU!

These seven products are musts for lover of milk and cheese.

58 M I L K ,

B U T N O T

Drinks made of soy, grain, nuts or rice:

we test eight alternatives to animal milk.

62 S T I L L

MILKING IT

For years, milk was considered healthy. Now, it‘s battling with bad publicity.

Unfairly, says our columnist.

70 M I L K I N G M A R C H

1 7

THE FORCE

Milk and mankind:

a few thoughts about a special relationship.

A step -by-step guide to making and cooking our dishes.

5

6

CONTRIBUTORS ― M A R C H 2 0 17 ―

FR ANZISK A WISCHMAN N

PH I L I PP KOH L HÖF E R

AUTHOR

AUTHOR

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I NA BR Z O S K A ___

PHOTOGR APHY

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LALO GONZALEZ, R. HUNGER

AUTHOR

was forced by her parents to watch popular science shows on television until she eventually became a fan herself. Ina has never lost her passion for making complicated things easy to understand – and the world of milk is complex enough, as you’ll find out in our Starters section in the first part of this issue on page 8.

is a sport and lifestyle author so she is used to watching things move quickly and thinking at speed, too.

Recently, though, she discovered a whole new, paradoxical dimension of human endeavour: patience and taking our time. She heads to France, where one of the world’s best affineurs showed her a thing or two about how milk is turned into a variety of unmistakeable cheese flavours (page 16). Discovering a slower approach to things is also a running theme in her interview with an Austrian ceramics artists on page 50.

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I NG A PAU L S E N

is a country boy through and through who was raised next to a dairy farm.

To this day, he’s convinced that he only grew so big and strong because he drank so much milk –and luckily, no-one can prove any different. He has changed his attitude to the drink, though, and is now willing to admit that cows probably don’t enjoy being milked so often. But there are other ways forward, as he shows in his report on page 30.

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AUTHOR

is a nutrition scientist and food writer who lives the country life with her family (including a dog and a horse). In this issue, she takes a closer look at milk, using her fridge to do the cooking and trying her hand at making her own cheese. Now, she has gained a great deal of respect for cheesemakers, as she writes on page 66.

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M

THE MILK ISSUE FACTS, FIGUR ES, ANECDOTES AND MORE ABOUT MILK FROM AROUND THE WORLD

2017

Here’s what a cow’s day looks like in numbers. To keep their digestion going, cows ingest up to 14 0 L I T R E S of water daily; that’s roughly equivalent to a bathtub full.

They ruminate for around nine hours a day, making around 3 0 , 0 0 0 chewing movements and producing 200 litres of saliva. Cow’s stomachs are divided into four parts – the rumen, reticulum, omasu and abomasum – and storing between 110 A N D 2 3 0 L I T R E S at once.

E V E R WON DE R E D HOW M UC H M I L K I T TA K E S T O M A K E C H E E S E ? F OU R L I T R E S F OR ON E K I L O G R A M OF C R E A M C H E E S E A N D 13 L I T R E S F OR H A R D C H E E S E S . T H I S M E A N S T H AT A L A RG E W H E E L OF E M M E N TA L W E IG H I N G I N AT 70 - 8 0 K I L O G R A M S I S M A DE F ROM A ROU N D 10 0 0 L I T R E S OF M I L K !

8

P ORT R A I T // GB

THE LAST OF THEIR KIND I N T H E U K , T H E R E A R E S T I L L P L E N T Y O F P RO F E S S I O N A L

MYTHS

MILK M EN. COLI N JOH NSON IS ON E OF THE M .

MILKING IT FOR ALL IT’S WORTH?

PHOTOGR APHY

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R . H U N G ER , G A L L ER Y S TO CK , IL LUS T R AT I O N EN

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MONA DESSAUL

DOES MILK STIL L M A K E YOU GROW BIG A N D STRONG? DOES IT STILL KEEP BON E S H E A LT H Y ?

OR IS IT MAKING US ILL? FRIENDS AND FOES OF T H I S PA R T I C U L A R BASIC FOODSTUFF ARE UNWILLING TO COMPROMISE. W E FAC T- C H E C K THE CLAIMS SURROUNDING THE I NGR E DI E N T.

By Ina Brzoska Colin Johnson brings the milk every morning. To his customers, he’s a friend as much as he is a deliveryman.

If you happen to cross 64-yearold milkman Colin Johnson on one of his dawn rounds through Lancaster, you might wonder if you’ve gone back in time overnight. On the back of his rickety float, crates stacked with milk bottles rattle over the cobbles – and if the going gets really rough, he needs one hand to hold the window on the driver’s side in place. Yes, Johnson upholds

a tradition which has all but vanished from the streets of most European countries: morning milk rounds. By 7am, Johnson needs to have delivered the last full bottle and collected the last empty. His float is electric – most have been since the 1960s – and remain a familiar sight to the roughly two million people in Britain who still have fresh milk delivered to their doorsteps in the morning.

M Y T H N o1 : R e c e nt s t u d i e s sug gest t hat m i l k c a n ac t ua l ly h ave a d e t r i m e nt a l e f fe c t on b one s .

“O u r re v i e w of t h e re s e a rc h av a i l a b l e on m i l k a nd h e a lt h e v a lu a t e s t h e re s u lt s of ove r 2 0 0 a c a d e m ic p a p e r s ,” s ay s I r i s L e h m a n n of t h e M a x R u bne r I n s t it ut e of K a r l s r u h e , „ a nd t h e c onc lu s ion i s t h a t m o d e r a t e c on s u mp t ion of m i l k i s t o b e re c om m e nd e d .“ T h e G e r m a n Nut r it ion S o c i e t y c on s id e r s 2 0 0 -2 5 0 g d a i l y a p pr o pr i a t e .

9

I

NEW ZEALAND

ON C E V E RY M UC H S H E E P C OU N T RY, N E W Z E A L A N D I S N OW F U L L OF C OW S . I N T H E I R L A S T BU S I N E S S Y E A R , DA I R I E S BROUG H T T H E I R C AT T L E S T O C K S U P T O 4 . 5 M I L L I O N .

(T H E P OP U L AT ION OF T H E DUA L-I S L A N D NAT ION I S J U S T A B OU T 4 . 4 M I L L I O N , BY T H E WAY.) N E W Z E A L A N D I S T H E WOR L D ’ S L A RG E S T E X P ORT E R OF M I L K .

GLOBAL

C U LT C O W S SELFMADE

CASEIN GLUE IT’S EASY TO MAKE: ALL YOU NEED IS MILK, V I N E G A R A N D H E AT. Just bring half a litre of skimmed milk to the boil with 90ml of vinegar in an enamelcoated pot or pan and keep on the heat until the milk curdles – after around four minutes, the acid in the vinegar will have separated the milk into its components. Keep stirring so that it doesn’t catch, then sieve the liquid, retaining the solid matter; in a bowl, mix the cottage-cheese style curd with 60ml of water and a teaspoon of baking powder. It will start to bubble, and once it has stopped, the glue is ready. Leave it to cool and then put it in a jam jar or similar container with a lid: it’s now ready to use. It’s the casein in the milk that is the gluing agent, by the way.

You’re very welcome.

10

WHY COWS ARE WORSHIPPED ACROSS THE WORLD. Hindus believe that god is everywhere – in every animal, too. The cow is especially holy because it is considered the giver of the five heavenly gifts: ghee (clarified butter) for cooking, dung as fuel and fertiliser, its urine (used to healing effect), and the yoghurtbased drink lassi. It’s not just in India that cows have been held to be holy, though: the ancient Egyptians believed that the sky was in fact the underbelly of a gigantic heavenly cow, and in Africa, the Fula people of Senegal and Niger have a creation myth in which the world came from a drop of milk.

STARTER S

AMERICA

THE LAST OF THE CLICHES

MILK À L A MODE: ANKE DOMASKE IS A MICROBIOLOGIST WHO HA S DE VELOPED A ME THOD FO R U S I N G M I L K P R O T E I N TO M AKE FIBRES. HER CO M PA N Y Q M I L K S U P P L I E S T E X T I L E S M A N U FAC T U R E R S W H O THEN USE THEM T O M A K E FA B R I C S FO R P EO P L E W I T H S E N S I T I V E S K I N . I T TA K E S 30 LITRES OF MILK TO M AKE E VERY KILOGR A M OF FIBRES, H OW E V E R .

H T T P :// D E .QM I L K . E U

“Cowboy” is a funny word, isn’t it? Do they only have cows out there on the prairie, or are there goats and sheep, too? Are cowboys limited to the USA, or can you be a cowboy in, say, Canada? And why are cowboys somehow cooler than cattle farmers in Europe? If you’ve ever thought about any of these questions, then New York photographer Luis Fabini’s book is the place to look. He spent a year travelling the American continent and living with cowboys in the USA, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Canada and Mexico. Luis Fabini (Fotos), Wade Davis (Text): Cowboys of the Americas, Greystone Books 2017, 168 pages, €43.88

SERBIA

THIS BOOK OFFERS A GLIMPSE OF LIFE AS A REAL COWBOY

T H E M O S T E X PE N S I V E C H E E S E I N T H E WOR L D I S C A L L E D P U L E A N D C O S T S €10 0 0 PE R K I L O G R A M . I T S M A K E R S U S E T H E M I L K OF T H E E N DA N G E R E D BA L K A N D ON K E Y, W H IC H T H E Y M I L K F OU R T I M E S A DAY F OR A N AV E R AG E T O TA L Y I E L D OF 2 0 0 M I L L I L I T R E S ; I T C ON TA I N S ON LY ON E PE R C E N T FAT A N D 6 0 T I M E S M OR E V I TA M I N C T H A N C OW ’ S M I L K . P U L E C H E E S E TA S T E S S I M I L A R T O S PA I N ’ S M A N C H E G O.

MYTH

: M i l k bu n g s you up.

M i l k h a s a c re a my c on s i s t e nc y, a nd w h e n it m i x e s w it h s a l i v a , it c re a t e s a t h ic k e mu l s ion t h a t fe e l s l i k e mu c ou s . B ut , t h i s i s ju s t w h a t it fe e l s l i k e .

S c i e nt i s t s h ave no t ye t fou nd a ny i nd ic at ion t hat mi l k actua l ly leads to i nc re a s e d ph l e g m .

No2

M Y T H No3: M i l k i s a g r e at w ay to w a k e up i n t he m or n i n g . M i l k on bre a k f a s t c e re a l s , m i l k i n c of fe e , a g l a s s of m i l k i n t h e m or n i n g .

You’ d t h i n k t h a t m i l k i s a g re a t w ay t o w a k e y ou r s e l f up. I n f a c t , m i l k c ont a i n s t r y p t o ph a n , a n a m i no a c id t hat actua l ly has a s o o t h i n g e f fe c t a nd m a k e s p e o pl e s l e e p y.

M Y T H N o 4 : M i l k g i ve s you a c n e . I f y ou h ave d r y s k i n , m i l k pr o du c t s – a p pl i e d e x t e r n a l l y – re t a i n m oi s t u re a nd c a n a c t u a l l y i mpr ove s k i n .

Pe o pl e w it h f a t t i e r s k i n m ore pr one t o i mpu r it i e s , howe ve r, w i l l wor s e n a ny pr o b l e m s t h e y h ave by d r i n k i n g m ore m i l k , a s d o c t or s hy p o t h e s i s e t h a t m i l k s t i mu l a t e s g r ow t h i n t h e oi l g l a nd s of t he sk in.

11

L GLOBAL

75% O F T H E WO R L D ’ S A DU LT P O P U L AT I O N H A S S O M E L E V E L O F D I F F IC U LT Y D IG E S T I N G M I L K . T H AT ’ S B E C AU S E T H E Y D O N ’ T P RO DU C E L AC TA S E , THE ENZ Y M E R E SPONSIBL E FOR B R E A K I N G D OW N T H E M I L K S U G A R L AC T O S E . W H I L E BA B I E S C A N D IG E S T M I L K E A S I LY, C H I L D R E N P RO G R E S S I V E LY L O S E T H E C A PA B I L I T Y A S T H E Y G ROW O L DE R . M O S T E U RO P E A N S C A N D R I N K M I L K W I T H OU T A N Y DISCOM FORT I N TH EIR L IFE .

I N N O R T H E R N E U RO P E , 9 0 % O F A DU LT S D O N O T H AV E A L AC T O S E I N T O L E R A N C E .

T H E F U R T H E R S OU T H YOU G O , T H E F E W E R A DU LT S C A N D R I N K M I L K : M O R E T H A N T WO T H I R D S O F S OU T H E R N E U RO P E A N S A R E L AC T O S E -I N T O L E R A N T; I N A S I A , O N LY S I X P E R C E N T O F T H E P O P U L AT I O N C A N E N J OY M I L K W I T H OU T A DV E R S E S Y M P T O M S .

12

IT ’ S E A SIER T H A N YOU ’ D T HIN K .

J UST WA R M U P ON E OR T WO L IT R E S OF M IL K OR W HE Y A N D T IP IT IN TO YOU R B AT H WAT ER : T HEN A DD YOU R S EL F A N D ENJOY T HE E X PER IENCE . M IL K CO N TA IN S SU B STA NCE S W HICH R E TA IN MOI ST U R E , C A L M I NG SE N SI T I V E SK I N A N D PR E V EN T ING IT FROM DR Y ING OU T. W H AT I S MOR E , T HE V ITA M IN S IN M IL K A R E T HOUGH T T O E NC OU R AG E C E L L AC T I V IT Y IN T HE S K IN , COM B AT T ING AGING . L AC T IC FAT S , PROT EIN S A N D ACIDS A L L H EL P SK IN STAY SIL K Y S OF T.

STARTER S

M Y THOLOGY A N D TH E

M IL K Y WAY:

I F YOU A S K E D A N C I E N T G R E E K S A B OU T H OW T H E M I L K Y WAY C A M E I N T O B E I N G , T H E Y WOU L D T E L L YOU T H E M Y T H O F H OW H E RC U L E S , S O N O F T H E K I N G O F T H E G O D S Z E U S , WA S A L R E A DY S O S T RO N G

M Y T H No5: M i l k m a k e s you f at . It ’s no t ju s t f u l l-f a t m i l k ; e ve n s k i m m e d m i l k c ont a i n s a l o t of c a l or i e s .

R e s e a rc h e r s h ave s how n , howe ve r, t h at t h e c a lc iu m i n m i l k a c t u a l l y t e nd s t o re du c e we i g ht by i nc re a s i n g t h e r a t e a t w h ic h f a t i s bu r ne d . T h e pr o t e i n i n m i l k a l s o h e lp s t o c ont r o l t h e a p p e t it e .

AT S U C H A YOU N G AG E T H AT H E S U C K L E D FA R T O O P OW E R F U L LY AT T H E T E AT O F H I S M O T H E R , A L C M E N E . A S A R E S U LT, H E R M I L K S Q U I R T E D OU T AC RO S S T H E S K Y A N D B E C A M E

WAY.

T H E M IL K Y

PHOTOGR APHY

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INTERFOTO / PHOTOASIA

K NOW LEDGE

H E AT T R E AT E D AN INTRO TO PA S T E U R I S AT I O N Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) found out that heating foodstuffs kills off microbes and means that food can be stored. That’s why milk today is “pasteurised” to destroy germs, usually using the high-temperature, short-time (HTST) process in which it is heated to 72-75°C for 15-30 seconds and then speed-cooled; this gives milk a refrigerated shelf life of between 7 and 10 days. With ultra-heat treatment (UHT), milk is heated to 85-127 degrees for one to four seconds and then cooled immediately: this milk has an extended shelf-life of up to three weeks and is therefore referred to as ESL milk.

M Y T H No6: O r g a n i c m i l k c om e s f r om l au g h i n g , f r e e -r o a m i n g c ow s .

A lt hou g h t h e y b a n ove rc r owd i n g i n s t a l l s , m o s t or g a n ic l a b e l s re fe r pr i m a r i l y t o t h e fe e d c ow s a re g i ve n , no t how t h e y a re k e p t .

S o e ve n d a i r y c a t t l e g i ve n e x c lu s i ve l y or g a n ic fo d d e r m ay no t a c t u a l l y b e l e t out mu c h .

I f b ov i ne h a p pi ne s s i s i mp or t a nt t o y ou , l o o k out for a d d it ion a l i nd ic at or s s u c h a s “ f re e r a n ge ” t o b e on t h e s a fe s id e .

M Y T H N o7 : M i l k s top s a nt i bi ot i c s f r om b e i n g a b s or b e d . Ta k i n g t a b l e t s w it h m i l k c a n b e a b a d id e a i nd e e d – but w hy? W h e n d i ge s t e d i n t h e s t om a c h , s om e m e d ic a t ion s e nt e r i nt o ve r y s t r on g c omp ou nd s w it h t h e c a lc iu m i n t h e m i l k , a nd t h i s m e a n s t hat t he blood is l e s s a b l e t o a b s or b a c t i ve a ge nt s .

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“A N Y T H I N G A B OV E 1 0 0 B E AT S P E R M I N U T E I S TO O FA ST FO R T H E M .”

B I O L O G I S T, D R . M A R I O L U DW IG A N A LY S E S T H E B E H AV I OU R A N D P S YC H E O F A N I M A L S .

And what turned out to be the bovine “Top of the Pops”?

Cows love classical music, and do in fact produce up to three percent more milk if they get to listen to it regularly. Mozart’s Kleine Nachtmusik and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony are pretty high up in the charts.

Have any farmers actually started playing music to their cows?

Some have installed stereo systems in their stalls, and, working with dairy scientists, there were further experiments on German farms in 2015 looking at various types of music. As it turns out, folk and country music puts cows under a lot of stress: if you play that to them, they actually produce less milk.

So animals have taste in music?

It’s more due to the speed: anything above 100 beats per minute is too fast for them. They didn’t like the Beatles either, or the German rock band Die Toten Hosen.

Cows like slower numbers.

And how does slow music make them feel?

Their pulse synchronises with the rhythm and that lowers their stress levels.

14

MONEY

Apparently, cows produce more milk if they listen to music. Is there any proof of that?

In a study conducted by researchers at the University of Leicester in 2001, more than 1000 cows were played various types of music for weeks on end.

I N A R E C OR D OF DU BIOU S VA LU E , L A S T Y E A R , HOL S T E I N C OW BU R-WA L L BUC K E Y E G IG I F ROM W I S C ON S I N P O S T E D H E R “ B E S T ” E V E R A N N UA L R E S U LT OF 33 , 8 61 K I L O G R A M S OF M I L K I N 3 6 5 DAY S . T H AT AV E R AG E S OU T AT A ROU N D 9 3 L I T R E S OF M I L K E V E RY DAY. A N I M A L PRO T E C T ION ORG A N I S AT ION S WA R N T H AT T H I S K I N D OF M I L K PRODUC T ION L E A D S T O A G R E AT DE A L OF S T R E S S F OR T H E A N I M A L S C ON C E R N E D A N D R E S U LT S I N M E TA B OL IC I L L N E S S E S . C OW S ’ NAT U R A L DA I LY OU T P U T I S A ROU N D 8 L I T R E S , BU T BR E E DI N G A N D C ON C E N T R AT E D F E E D H AV E M A DE I T P O S S I B L E F OR H IG H-PE R F OR M A N C E C OW S T O PRODUC E A ROU N D 5 0 L I T R E S E V E RY DAY.

INTERVIEW

K NAT U R E

THE MOTHER OF A L L H YG I E N E R E G U L AT I O N S WA S E N AC T E D I N G E R M A N Y I N 19 3 0 A F T E R F O O D S A F E T Y I N S P E C T O R S H A D S TA R T E D F I N D I N G I N C R E A S I N G A M OU N T S O F F L OU R , C H A L K , P L A S T E R A N D RU B B E R S O L U T I O N B E I N G U S E D T O S T R E T C H M I L K . I N J U LY O F T H AT YEAR, THE FIRST GER MAN

“ MIL K L AW ” E N T E R E D I N T O F O RC E , P L AC I N G A P E N A LT Y O N T E M P E R I N G W I T H M I L K .

I N T H E E U T O DAY, C A S E S O F M I L K B E I N G TA M P E R E D W I T H A R E N OW

E X T R E M ELY R ARE.

UP COW AND PERSONAL: DUTCH FARMERS HAVE FOUND A NEW SOURCE OF INCOME – COW CUDDLING. MORE AND MORE TOWN-DWELLERS ARE STOPPING BY AT CATTLE STALLS WHEN THEY VISIT THE COUNTRYSIDE, AND FOR YOUNG AND OLD ALIKE, THE EXPERIENCE OF GETTING CLOSE TO COWS AND CALVES IS A WELCOME BREAK FROM CITY LIFE. PEOPLE WHO ENJOY TOUCHING THE FLANK OF THE ANIMAL EXPERIENCE A RUSH OF THE STRESS-RELEASE HAPPINESS HORMONE, OXYTOCIN.

C OW S G E T HOM E S IC K , T O O, A N D A PPA R E N T LY T H E I R L ON G I N G I S T R IG G E R E D

BY T H E S I N G I N G OF S W I S S FA R M E R S . T H AT, AT L E A S T, I S W H AT JOH A N N GOT TFR IED EBEL W RO T E I N 17 9 8 : “ W H E N A L PI N E BR E E D S A R E R E M OV E D F ROM T H E I R C OU N T RY OF BI RT H A N D THEN HEAR THIS S ON G , T H E Y I M M E DI AT E LY BEN D THEIR TA L E S U P WA R D S A N D S TA RT S TA M PE DI N G T H ROUG H E V E RY T Y PE OF F E N C E A N D G AT E .

T H E Y B E C OM E QU I T E W I L D.”

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FR E NCH A FFI N EU R H ERV É MONS IS ON E OF T H E BE ST K NOW N I N T H E WOR L D. T H IS IS A R E P ORTAGE A BOU T HIM AND ABOUT THE FINE ART OF M AT U R I NG CH E E SE .

TEXT

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FR A N Z IS K A

W IS C H M A N N

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I T ’ S E A R L Y M O R N I N G and the sun is sending its

first rays down over the rough peaks of the Auvergne mountains as Hervé Mons’ minibus turns its way up the serpentine road. The 55-year-old keeps his foot on the accelerator, laughing gently as he notices the passenger’s discomfort: “Don’t worry. I did Paris-Dakar for twenty years,” he says by way of reassurance. He means the Paris-Dakar Rally, of course: the toughest desert race in the world.

Hervé Mons keeps a tight grip on his steering wheel – and on his cheese empire, Mons Fromage, a company known far beyond the borders of France and which he runs in his confident yet sensitive manner from Saint-Haon-le-Châtel. Mons’ global reputation is based on affinage, the process of maturing cheese that true gourmets prize highly. A Comté or Reblochon ripened in his cellars has about as much to do with packaged supermarket cheese as a unit of Ikea flat-

P H O T O G R A P H Y

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A I L I N E

L I E F E L D

pack shelving has to with a genuine Antonio Citterio made-to-order piece.

On this particular morning, Hervé Mons is on his way to see one of his milk suppliers in the Égliseneuve mountains on the volcanic verges of the Auvergne.

It is in this highland region that Josiane and Henri Bapt live and work, raising the third generation of the French heritage cattle known as Salers. The breed is known for its flavourful milk – but doesn’t make it easy for dairy farmers, who have to wait for the cows’ udders to be stimulated by their calves and be ready to milk by hand. That means milking twice a day, seven days a week, between April and November, and the Bapts yield between 280 and 300 litres at every milking. That’s around 40,000 litres a month, which is turned into four tonnes of cheese. As their milk curdles in a vat heated to 33°C, the couple’s Salers spend their days out grazing on the juicy meadows of the region.

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PORTRAIT

The fresh milk is heated to 33°C in a vat until it curdles. A metal wire lattice – referred to, poetically, as a “harp” – is used to keep cutting the fresh curds.

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300 E AC H M I L K I N G P RO DU C E S 3 0 0 L I T R E S : T H AT ’ S A ROU N D 4 0,0 0 0 LITR E S A MON TH, W H IC H I S T U R N E D I N T O F OU R TON N E S OF CHEE SE .

The curds are separated from the whey by hand, then pressed into round forms and left to drain. Mons is a frequent visitor. “It’s important to talk to each other, to be on friendly terms and in close contact,” he says, explaining his philosophy, “because unless the raw material is truly excellent, the cheese won’t be any good. The dairy farmers are the ones who decide how their animals live, what they get to eat, and – as a result – how the milk tastes,” he adds, which is why he has supply deals with 130 producers of unpasteurised milk in France and Switzerland who work in the old tradition. As he talks, he pours out a sip of milk so fresh that it is still steaming into a cup to taste. It is sweet, has notes of honey and a nutty scent. This milk forms the basis for Saint-Nectaire Fermier, a particularly aromatic form of cheese made from whole, unpasteurised milk from the region.

The heart of Mons’ empire beats in a railway tunnel closed at the beginning of the Second World War. 185 metres in length, it houses five large wooden goods trucks kept at 98 per cent humidity and 10°C. The waggons, in turn, have space for around 100 tonnes of cheese. Hervé Mons and his brother Laurent discovered the disused tunnel in some woods close to their offices back in 2009, but it was only after a series of laboratory tests that they realised its full potential.

Essentially, the tunnel is the perfect place to store and mature cheese because it has a highly stable microclimate: lenghts and lenghts of stone walling keep it from freezing in winter and overheating in summer, and so the brothers invested 650,000 euros in having it repurposed. The family-run business has secured two other similar tunnels, too, as it expands rapidly in its second generation.

It was back at the beginning of the 1960s that Hervé 20

and Laurent’s parents started producing cheese and selling it at farmers’ markets in Roanne, the closest town. They gained a reputation for the quality of their cheese and became known outside of the local area, going on to open a small chain of shops in the region that are now run by Laurent, the younger of the two sons. Hervé, the first-born, learned his craft from the best cheesemakers in France, and was the force behind the company’s expansion to Paris and then abroad.

Inside the Saint-Haon-le-Châtel tunnel, the air smells of damp and mould. “Besides the way the milk is made and how it is curdled, the climatic conditions as it ripens play the most important role,” explains Mons.

Quality and attention to detail are the secrets to his success. Water trickles down the thick stone walls.

Not that the perfect tunnel microclimate is enough in and of itself. “To reach its full potential, each cheese requires special attention,” continues Mons. “Each and every curd needs to be carefully rubbed down in salt water, brushed and turned.” Mons explains that, given that there are between two and three million microorganisms on the rind of each individual cheese, it makes a crucial difference if the cheese is kept on wood, straw, paper or stone. “All of these factors influence its flavour, its aromas and its consistency,” says Mons, and that is why he and his staff keep track of the process using all five senses – yes, all five, because they also listen, tapping the rind of the cheese to hear what stage of ripening it has reached. It can take anything from four months to three years before the wheels, loaves and blocks are ready to be packaged and dispatched to their various gourmet destinations.

The journeys can be long, as the quality of Maison Mons products has given the company a worldwide

PORTRAIT

Now a gelatinous mass, the curdled milk is removed and pressed into forms by the handful; a machine is used to help drain the curds. In three months’ time, this will be ripe Saint Nectaire.

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PORTRAIT

HervĂŠ Mons uses his trier to bore a sample out of the middle of the cheese so that he can see how far it has matured.

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Soft cheese retains more water and so is stored on paper, as this does not draw liquid out of the cheese.

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PORTRAIT

The picturesque winding lanes of Saint-Haon-le-Châtel give the impression that time has passed this particular village by.

reputation without any notable PR spend. “We don’t need to advertise,” says Mons, “prefering to invest the money in quality. And word-of-mouth is far more effective in any case,” he chuckles, revealing a myriad of small laughter lines as he does. After all, for all his modesty – and it is in no way false – he has been at the top of the worldwide market for gourmet products for some time now. Trading on personal recommendations has another advantage, too, for someone as communicative as Hervé Mons: an opportunity to talk to people. He is more than happy to share his expertise with cheese specialists the world over, and receives invitations from as far afield as America and Japan.

Isn’t he afraid that someone might copy something?

“No,” he answers, “as every country has its own climatic conditions. That influences the animals – and thus their milk, the raw material – inasmuch as they get different fodder. And the climate has an effect

on processing cheese, too,” he adds, contrasting the heat of southern Italy to Alpine Switzerland. “So everyone can learn from everyone else and, by working together, create the best cheeses humanity has ever made.”

Hervé Mons is a man with a vision: he wants to set up an international association of cheese specialists who, in much the same way as sommeliers, meet regularly to share their knowledge of the area. He considers sustainability a particularly important part of this and would like to see people who work with a similar philosophy to his accorded more influence in encouraging mankind to think more carefully about how it uses the planet it lives on. “A small first step in this direction would be getting consumers to move away from mass-produced foodstuffs to quality products – even though quality costs more.” But what would they get out of it? “Savoir vivre.” What else? - TI 25

T E X T

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W I S CH M A N N

IT’S E A SY TO BE PUT OFF BY FLUFF ON THE CUT S U R FA C E O F S O M E T Y P E S O F C H E E S E .

BUT HOW C AN YOU TELL IF THE CHEESE IS STILL EDIBLE? A GUIDE TO MOULD – AND BLOOM.

THE GOOD, THE BA D A N D T H E MOU L DY

PORTRAIT

Means what it says: Cheese made from unpasteurised – i.e. raw – milk really is uncooked: the milk is never heated to more than 40°C so that its natural bacteria cultures sur vive – and give it those inimitable f lavour nuances as it ripens.

R AW M I L K C H E E S E

The characteristic savour y aroma of blue cheese comes from the penicillin cultures added to it; long needles are used to poke holes throughout the cheese so that ox ygen can circulate to the microbes. w w w. ku e c he ngo e t te r. d e/ warenkunde/ blauschimmelkaese

BLUE CHEESE

OF KNOWLEDGE

A CHUNK

Mould does not have the best of reputations. If we find it on bread, on ham, or on fruits, then it’s a clear sign that the food in question has spoilt. Yet when it comes to edible cultures in fine soft cheeses made of unpasteurised milk, gourmets appreciate the flavour of mould and refer to it in poetic terms like “bloom”.

But mould it is: to make some forms of cheese, fungal spores are added to the curd. Blue cheeses such Italian Gorgonzola or French Roquefort are among the most popular classics made by the intentional addition of bacterial cultures.

Yet cheeses made of pasteurised milk, too, such as Camembert or Brie, carry fungal cultures which create a silky white layer on the outside; this can spread to the cut surface if the cheese is left unfinished for long enough. “It’s a completely normal process,” affineur Hervé Mons assures us. “The surface mould is absolutely benign and you can eat it along with the rest of the cheese.”

The French are particularly fond of soft cheeses with washed rinds, of which Chaumes, Pont-l’Évêque and Saint-Albray are among the best known. The redhued fungal cultures give the cheeses a savoury aroma that is most pungent in the rind; these moulds are cultivated specifically and are part of what makes these cheeses what they are. Anyone who finds the flavours too strong can cut away the rind, which may also feature visible white mould – also “tolerated” on the outside, too. Even if these white cultures start to take on light shades of green, that doesn’t mean that the cheese needs to be thrown away: “Just carefully wash any areas of green off with a saline solution in the same way that we affineurs do while they ripen,” advises Mons. Even black moulds can be part of the gourmet experience on cheeses made of unpasteurised milk such as Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon or Tomme de Savoie, characterised by the charcoal-coloured fungal coverings they develop as they mature and which pack a lot of aroma.

There are fungal spores on hard cheeses such as Par-

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When storing cheese at home, there is a bewildering array of things you can do wrong. If you take all of your cheeses out of the packaging and put them in a box, that’s a recipe for disaster. The various mould and rennet cultures are incompatible and can soon start mixing, leading to the cheese turning faster. This means that cow’s, goat’s and sheep’s milk cheeses should be stored separately from one another – wrapped in cheesemonger’s paper, if possible. On the other hand, experts don’t recommend using cellophane wrapping; this cuts off the air supply, and it would seem that cheese needs to breathe a little to develop its flavour.

If you don’t have any waxed cheese paper to had, you can poke holes in aluminium foil or cling film. Once packaged, cheeses can be stored in close proximity – the salad drawer is a good place, as cheese likes the temperature range of 8 to 10°C usually found there, and needs humidity. The easiest way to keep it from drying out is to add a slice of cucumber or cut tomato to the drawer. One final thing professionals like Hervé will always recommend doing before you eat cheese is to take it out of the fridge around one hour before you want to eat it: the best temperature for cheese to reveal its full range of aromas is 16°C.

PROPER STORAGE IS KEY

mesan, Emmental, Gouda and Leerdamer, too. Any white or green mould on the cut surfaces of these cheeses should be cut off as soon as they become visible, along with the areas around them. In the case of sliced cheese or cream cheese, it’s a very different matter: experts recommend throwing away the whole product since there is no way of “cutting off” mould here and the cultures on these types of cheese are actually noxious. Referred to as mycotoxins, they can lead to liver damage and are suspected of being carcinogenic, too.

Some ty pes of cheese such as Camembert de Normandie sport those classic initials also seen on wine. They mean A p p e l l a t i o n d ’o r i g i n e contrôlée, i.e. t hat t he product comes from a specific region.

S o C a me m b e r t s a n s AO C label may not even be French…

W H A T D O E S “A O C ” STA N D FOR AGA I N ?

Cheese loses much of its f lavour if cooled to below zero, a lthough this makes little difference in t he case of harder sorts used in cooking such as Gouda and Parmesan. Soft and cream cheeses, h owe ve r, b e c o m e s o g g y or f laky if frozen.

FR E EZE YOU R CHEESE?

USEFUL I N F O R M AT I O N

PORTRÄIT

Cornish Clotted Cream

FI LTR ATI O N

Thick cream made in Cornwall from upasteurised milk using a traditional recipe.

Powdered cream Condensed coffee cream Coffee cream

DRYIN G

R AW M ILK

Gruyère double cream

Double cream from the Swiss canton of Freiburg, 50% fat

Double cream

Ice cream

Dessert made from cream

Whipping cream

Cream

M IL K FAT FE R ME N TATION

Sour cream

Soured cream

Cream yoghurt

American-style sour cream

Buttermilk

Uses special bacterial cultures

Smetana

Light cream Crème fraîche

Buttermilk soap

Cultured butter

CRE A M E R Y B UT TE R Clarified butter

Pure butter fat without water, lactose, or lactoproteins + LE M ON- / WI NE- / V I NEG AR

Mascarpone

Nitir qibe

Filtered clarified butter with herbs and spices

Ghee

Clarified using specific simmering techniques

Butter oil

Mild cultured butter

Soft cheese

e.g. Camembert, Brie, Gorgonzola

Raw milk

State certified

Fresh farmer's milk

Med ch

Washes, creams, haircare products

Raw milk cheese

S A LT RIP

walnut size

hazeln

Vegetarian meat substitutes

LACTOPROTEINS

MI L K

+ FUN G A L CULTUR E S , R IP E N IN G

Soft ice

Machine-made ice cream, 75% milk

Curds (variety of sizes)

Leben

Cow's, goat's, or camel's milk soured with leben cultures

FAT CONTENT

FULL FAT

SEMI SKIMMED

SKIMMED

3.5 %

up to 1.8 %

up to 0.5 %

Cutting

GEL

HEAT TREATMENT, PAS TEURIS ATION

3.5 %

1.5 %

Junket

0.5 %

Milk thickened with rennet

M IL K C URDL IN G All hard cheeses

HOMOGENI S ATI ON

S O URIN G using RENNET

S O URIN G using LACTIC ACID BACTERIA and some RENNET Pasteurised UHT milk milk

ESL milk Sterilised milk

Nou Nou

Condensed milk

Milk products (e.g. spreads) made from non-perishable milk and sugar

Pasteurised milk

S O URE D M IL K C URDL IN G All fresh cheeses Lassi

+ L ACTIC ACID B ACTERIA

Drink made of one part yoghurt to one part water, with fruit

Ayran

Drink made of two parts water to yoghurt, often salted

Powdered milk

Dugh

Drink made of yoghurt, whey, and mineral water

Labnah Sour milk

SkyrCream

cheese made of skimmed milk

Kefir

Cream yoghurt similar to cream cheese

Cottage cheese

Thick-grain cream cheese made of (skimmed) milk

Frozen yoghurt

Yoghurt

Ice cream made of yoghurt and (skimmed) milk

GEL

dium heese

Extra-mature hard cheese

Hard cheese

+ S ALT P ROCE S S I N G

Types of milk Sour milk products

e.g. Manchego

Cream products Other milk products Cheese spread BRINE, ENING

S ALT BRINE, RI P ENI NG

Butter products Cheese products Cosmetics Separation, centrifuge

nut size

pea size

wheatgrain sized

Heating, cooking

ULTRA -FILTRATION, ION EXCHANGE

Whey cheese (Ricotta)

S WEET WHEY

Whey cream Whey powder

Lactose (e.g. in food supplements)

Cosmetics (in hydration creams, peelings, and day creams)

Whey bath powder

Brunost

Norwegian and Swedish whey cheese made from cow's, goat's, or sheep's milk

Swiss refreshment made from 25-35% milk serum and herbal extracts

Milk serum

SKIMM ED MILK B ASIS:

+ CRE A M

Curds

S OUR WHE Y

Quark

+ SOD IUM

Cooking cheese

RIPENIN G

Ripened sour milk cheese

Low-fat-quark

L

„Rivella“

(Handkäse in Germany)

+ CRE A M

Double cream cheese

Cream cheese DRAIN AGE

- WATE R

Pressed curd cheese Quark with lower whey content

Spun-curd cheese (Mozarella, Burrata) Cheese in which curds are soured, doused in hot water, and kneaded

SKIMM ED MILK B ASIS:

S ALT B R IN E

thick-grain cream cheese (cottage cheese)

Schichtkäse (German speciality quark)

Brined white cheese (feta) Cheese matured in salt brine

MILCH VON:

DA S S Y S T E M M I L C H AUS DE M E UT E R DI R E K T I N S G L AS ? DAS I ST V E RGA NGE NH E I T. DE R G RÖ S ST E T E I L DE R W E LT W E I T PRODU Z I E RT E N M I LC H L A N DET I N MOL K E R E I E N .

W E LC H E PRODU KT E D ORT DA R AU S E N T ST E H E N , Z E IG T DAS ORG AN IGR A M M VON T H E I NG R E DI E N T. INFOGRAFIK --- ELA STRICKERT // RECHERCHE --- PUK REDAKTION

DAS KLEINE MILKIPEDIA DI E W ICHT IGST E N Z U BE R E I T U NG S V E R FA H R E N AU F E I N E N BL IC K PA S T E U R I S I E R E N // Um Bakterien und Keime abzutöten und so die Haltbarkeit zu erhöhen, wird Milch auf 75 Grad erhitzt.

H O C H PA S T E U R I S I E R E N // Temperaturen von bis zu 127 Grad erhöhen die Haltbarkeit von ESL-Milch (Extended Shelf Life) auf circa drei Wochen.

H O M O G E N I S I E R E N // Durch hohen Druck werden die Fetttropfen in der Milch zerlegt, die Milch wird somit verdaulicher gemacht.

U H T // Milch wird auf 150 Grad ultrahocherhitzt und keimfrei gemacht. Sogenannte H-Milch hält ungeöffnet circa zwölf Wochen.

Z E N T R I F U G I E R E N // Die beim Schleudern von Milch wirkenden Fliehkräfte drücken das Fett an den Rand der Trommel, der Rahm läuft ab und wird weiterverarbeitet.

V E R B U T T E R N // Dabei wird Rahm so lange geschlagen, bis Buttermilch und Buttermasse voneinander getrennt sind.

F E R M E N T I E R E N // Milch gerinnt durch Lab und Milchsäurebakterien – dabei unterscheidet man mesophile Kulturen, die Temperaturen zwischen 25 und 42 Grad bevorzugen, und thermophile Kulturen, die bei über 42 Grad noch wachsen.

S T E R I L I S I E R E N // Um Milch bis zu einem Jahr haltbar zu machen, wird das Ursprungsprodukt bei 110 Grad 30 Minuten lang in einer luftdichten Verpackung entkeimt.

NATHA (will calve shortly)

BLÃœMLI (always has a cold)

LINDE (became a young mother)

FLECK S (gets scared easily)

FLORA (gets unlucky regularly)

VIOLA (likes to keep her distance)

LOLA (is an immigrant)

AMANDA (is a cheeky girl)

CORA (is a bit of a gourmet)

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L O C A T E D I N T H E B L A C K F O R E S T, H O F G A S S W I E S I S – Q U I T E S I M P LY – C O W H E AV E N O N E A R T H . T H E A N I M A L S A R E H A P P Y, T H E M I L K I S H E A L T H Y A N D E V E R Y O N E WA N T S T O K N O W H O W F A R M E R S S I LV I A A N D A L F R E D RU T SC H M A N N M A NAG E I T 31

REPORT

IT MAY BE EASY TO FORGET IT IN CONVENTIONAL AGRICULTURE, but cows’ horns contain live flesh and bone, and are also connected to their foreheads and sinuses.

O F T H E M H A V E H O R N S that protrude from the head and swing upwards towards the heavens before they turn back down towards their mouths. Others have horns that are broken off or twisted in an odd way. Each horn is as unique as a finger-print, as personal as a face. And most importantly, each horn is still there.

Alfred Rutschmann – everyone calls him Fred – is the second baritone in the local choir in nearby Rechberg and, more than anything else, a passionate farmer.

“If you ask kids about the first thing that comes to mind when they think of cows, they’ll say that they eat grass, have horns and stand out in the fields with their calves,” he says, counting off the various characteristics on the fingers of his hand. “And that,” he continues, nodding to himself as much as to anyone else, “is all you need.” In the shed behind him, you can hear the dairy cattle mooing – and the animals know what’s about to happen. They’re moving around as it’s just before seven in the morning and they’re about to be milked. The cow of a child’s imagination, though, has very little to do with reality: most don’t have horns, for a start, and they spend a lot of time in the cattle shed, getting a diet of concentrated feed and being separated from their calves one day after birth. The calves get a milk substitute to drink because, although they might be necessary for milk to be produced, they are also competing against human consumers.

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Well, that’s what it’s like for most cows. “We do things differently,” says Rutschmann. At Fred’s farm, Hof Gasswies in Klettgau-Rechberg, it’s the system that has to adapt to the animals and not the other way round. Fred and his wife Sylvia, a landscape architect, run an organic farm in the south-western reaches of the Black Forest; Switzerland is just a mile or so away.

AT H O F G A S S W I E S, N AT UR E I S T H E B LUE P R I N T For over ten years now, the Rutschmanns have been working on what is known as “mother-bonded and fostered calf rearing” – i.e. the calf is allowed to stay with its mother after birth and drink her milk; at first, all week long, and then every now and then for the next three months. The cattle sheds don’t have fixed boxes, and although the mother and the calf are separated by a grate, this is opened several times a day.

Even when it’s closed, the animals can still see each other, smell, lick and muzzle one another. The cows are milked during this period, but not at the full level, leaving more than enough for the calves, who are then moved to foster mothers out at pasture, where they can continue to drink milk, but also get to eat grass.

This method of animal husbandry as applied on the Rutschmanns’ farm is derived from natural bovine behavioural patterns. The same is true of breeding, too,

REPORT

COWS ARE TRUE HERBIVORES, MEANING THAT THEY SHOULD REALLY ONLY EAT GRASS. At Hof Gasswies, there’s no question about the matter.

with no artificial insemination: the bull is on hand to make sure that the pitter-patter of tiny hooves can be heard. This means that, in contrast to conventional farms, Hof Gasswies only gets calves in spring; left to their own devices, cows always calve early in the year.

In winter, the pregnant cows are kept inside, warm and dry. Shortly before birth they stop giving milk and so get taken out of the roster.

THE COW S G E T N A M ES TO M ATC H T H EIR PE R S O N ALI TI E S You might be surprised to find out that this way of raising their animals leaves the Rutschmanns in a grey area with regard to German law; for dairy farmers, it is still by and large based on paragraph one of the “Milk and Fats Act” enacted on 15th May 1931, which defines milk as “the product of a regular and full milking of the udder of one or more cows from one or more milkings, thoroughly mixed, with no additives and nothing removed.” Udders on Hof Grasswies aren’t milked regularly or fully, however, so the milk is not officially milk. Then again, they don’t call these things “grey areas” for nothing, and no-one checks to what extent the Rutschmanns stick to this provision and, as yet, no-one has tried to enforce it.

On a business level, the seasonal dip in milk production and the mother-calf bonding means that, although the cows do not need concentrated feed in the winter,

the farm has its difficulties: the whole milk industry is geared towards continuous increases in production, so if you give the cows more time (for their calves), more space (for their horns) and a longer life (for their health and wellbeing), you get less milk. By way of comparison, one of the Rutschmanns’ cows yields an average of 3500 litres a year, while a specially-bred “turbovine” can easily produce 10,000 annually. What the milk prices don’t reflect is the impact this industrial farming has on the ecosystem, or, as Rutschmann puts it: “We’ve decided to invest in biodiversity rather than economic growth.”

In conventional farming, cows calve throughout the year, and the cattle need to deliver as much milk as possible in each and every month. For this to happen, grass has to be cut several times annually before it blooms so that its protein content remains high. This, however, doesn’t attract insects. When the Rutschmanns’ cows give birth in late spring and early summer, however, the best grass of the year is ready and waiting – just when the cow needs it. It doesn’t have to be continually mown because the animals only eat as much as they need; in turn, the grass is allowed to bloom, and that means more insects, more birds of song and fewer pests on the fruit orchards at Hof Gasswies.

So although the Rutschmanns aren’t actually doing much more than simply allowing nature to take its 33

REPORT

IT C AN ONLY HAPPEN TO A BOVINE: Paula the Cow got herself caught in the farm gate and lost a horn.

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BEAUT Y TREATMENT ON THE FARM: The cows just can’t get enough of the massage brush.

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REPORT

BET WEEN MILKINGS, THE COWS GET A CHANCE TO RELAX In a bath of hay, for example.

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course, they’ve been awarded several prizes for innovation. “That shows you the extent to which modern agriculture has lost its connection to nature,” says Rutschmann as he heads off into the milking parlour.

Elli, 4 ½ years old and 1,750 pounds, is already waiting for him. She’s a Simmentaler Fleckvieh, a dual purpose breed which yields good milk and also produces meat.

At Hof Gasswies, each of the 44 milk cows has a name and a character. There’s Julia, tough as old boots and 14 years old, while Marianne, aged eight, is noticeably strong-willed; Regina, seven, is easily scared, but Coco, three, couldn’t be more relaxed. And then there’s Elli, of course, who is just delightful.

DA I R Y FARM S ARE PA R T O F O UR C ULT UR E Rutschmann checks the base of the milking machine, which channels the milk straight into a system of pipes without it coming into contact with the air at any moment. The milk gurgles down the pipes to a holding tank twice a day, and every other day, an organic dairy from Freiburg sends a truck to pick it up. Rutschmann kneads the udder, strokes the animal and speaks to her – he always talks as this relaxes the cow. On a conventional farm, Elli would have about another six months left, whereas a Hof Gasswies cow makes it to eight on average. In the end, Elli will still end up as meat: although their animals have a better life on a farm like this, there’s no way it alone can change the whole system. “When a cow leaves us,” says Rutschmann, “I say goodbye and I say thanks.” He takes a moment, strokes them on the head, and gives them a last pat. For Fred and his wife, it’s about the animals’ dignity: “After all, it’s us that couldn’t get by without them, not the other way round.”

In any case, the Rutschmanns’ homestead is more than just a business; it also plays a key role in village life and is part of a culture which is kept alive thanks to the way the farm works. The Rutschmanns have around 120 hectares of land on which they keep 150 cows, 50 of whom are dairy cattle. The cows get nothing but grass – all of it from the farm’s pastures; no fodder is bought in.

After they’ve milked the herd, Fred and Sylvia sit down to a breakfast of honey, hazelnut cocoa spread and marmalade on thick slices of bread – with a cup of coffee and milk that couldn’t be fresher. “Cows were always my favourite animals,” says Sylvia. The house is contemporary in style; very open, with lots of bare concrete and wood. Large windows open it up to the landscape surrounding it, and comics are lying around – Asterix and Lucky Luke. There’s a fire in the chimney. The farm office takes up almost all of the second floor: “Nowadays, you’d be sunk without professional accountants,” explains Sylvia, as the farm is dependent on a range of sources of revenue; selling milk alone would not be enough to keep the farm running, so supporters of the model can adopt a cow or become part of the cooperative (kulturland-eg. de); being a paid supporter opens up access to extra products like schnapps from the home stills. School classes come on days out every now and then, too,

Happiness?

Mission possible! The Rutschmanns and their contented cattle.

as Hof Gasswies is an official model farm for organic agriculture.

H A P P Y COW S, H A P P Y FA R ME R S For the Rutschmanns, their animals are not anonymous living matter, and milk is not just a liquid that can be drunk, but rather a gift from nature. In conventional dairy farming, the death of the calves is part of the business model: new-born calves are highly susceptible to illness in their first weeks as they do not come out of the womb with their own immune system; as such, their first drinks of milk are a form of inoculation and help kick-start the development of their own defences. Although they need around four weeks of their mother’s milk, conventional farming practices do not allow them to drink it. As they are born with a suckling reflex, they often lick and suck at themselves – usually the belly-button – until they get rashes which can often become infected, ending in blood poisoning and even death. To stop them doing this, they need to be kept in their own boxes, and this creates more work for the farmers; what is more, the stress of being separated can weaken the cows’ ability to fight off illnesses. In conventional farming, around 10% of the calves die, whereas the Rutschmanns don’t lose even one.

“The cows and calves are much more relaxed around here,” says Sylvia Rutschmann. They get to follow their natural social behavioural patterns, suffer from less stress and – as a result – are ill less often. This keeps costs for vets down and also means that there is no need to buy supplementary fodder for calves.

The milk on Rutschmanns’ farm has got just what the calves need and is given to them at a temperature their sensitive digestive systems can handle.

Just as Sylvia is explaining things, there’s a rattling sound from the shed. Knowing exactly what it means, Sylvia stands up and – bread in hand – heads out to the shed: the cows are trying to open the gate to go out to pasture. When she gets there, it’s already half-open and, as she waves her arms like an aircraft marshal, the cows take a few steps back – only to come back towards her for a pat and a nuzzle. - TI 37

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C A N Y O U R E A L LY C O O K IN THE F R IDGE? YOU SU R E CA N, A N D E AC H DI F F E R E N T T E M PE R AT U R E ZONE IS IDEAL FOR A RANGE OF DIFFERENT COOK I NG T ECH N IQU ES.

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P H OTO G R A P H Y FO O D ST Y L IN G

IN G A PAUL S EN _ _ _ R E INH ARD H UN GER _ _ _ C H RISTOPH H IM M EL

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FR EE Z ING S O F T M E LT I N G PA R FA I T, R E F R E S H I N G F R U I T S O R B E T O R C H O C O L AT E Y M I L K S W E E T S – YO U N E E D E X T R E M E LY L O W T E M P E R AT U R E S F O R A L L O F T H E S E D E L I C I O U S R EC I P E S .

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W H O N E E D S A N I C E C R E A M M A K E R ? The perfect place to make delicious frozen dishes, whether sweet or savoury, is a freezer compartment with a low-frost function. With temperatures way south of zero, liquids freeze and turn into solid masses; if you’re trying to achieve creaminess, the recipe has to be perfect – and it’s less a question of the proportions of milk to cream and fruit than of the sugar content. Sucrose (standard household sugar), glucose and fructose all lower the freezing point of mixtures for ice cream, for example, which stops the water contained in the mass from crystallising too much as it solidifies – a good shot of strong alcohol can actually have the same effect, as can continuous stirring. A parfait (or, in Italian cooking, semifreddo) is the perfect beginners’ dish in this discipline as it is served half-frozen, melting deliciously in the mouth.

HOW TO MAKE IT:

2 F O R A P A R F A I T , whisk egg yolks and sugar over a bain-marie until creamy, add flavouring such as fruit, meringue, nuts or spices, and then fold in whipping cream (you can substitute some of the cream for yoghurt if you’re looking to cut calories).

freezer will be very low and the parfait could be spoiled by freezer burn. Contrary to ice cream recipes, there is no need to stir the parfait mass as it chills. Remove the parfait from the freezer and leave at room temperature for 45 minutes prior to serving; turn the form upside down and knock the parfait out, cutting it into slices. Serving suggestion: Spoon the parfait into thick glasses, freeze for 4-5 hours, and then simply bring up to temperature for 30 minutes before eating.

All you need to do now is put the parfait into the freezer. Tip: If you have a NoFrost freezer, make sure to cover the parfait as the humidity in the

3

Make it creamy : you need to stir the egg and sugar until all the granules have dissolved. Make it pretty : melt some milk chocolate, spread it on baking paper, and sprinkle with spices; leave to cool.

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M A R IN ATING U S E A N O V E R N I G H T S OA K I N F L AV O U R E D O I L S , S AV O U R Y B R I N E S , O R I N F U S E D M I L K , C R E A M O R B U T T E R M I L K T O M A K E M E AT S – E S P EC I A L LY P O U LT R Y A N D G A M E – J U I C I E R A N D TA S T I E R .

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A M A R I N A D E M A D E F R O M Y O G H U R T and tandoori masala; a mix of olive oil, lemon juice and herbs; a soy sauce, garlic and chili liquor: almost every region on the planet has its own characteristic marinade recipe – and it’s no wonder, as marinating foodstuffs has a range of benefits. Cheeses, vegetables and tofu can be infused with new flavours and preserved; the storage life of raw ingredients, too, is improved by marinating them, as is the result after cooking. Marinades made of liquids containing acids such as wine, vinegar or lemon juice tenderise sinews in meats, making the finished result softer to the bite; enzymes in exotic fruits such as papaya or pineapple add to this effect. Lactic acids in dairy products act similarly, while the calcium they contain helps the meat to mature. This opens up the doors for herbs and spices, whose aromas can then sink deep into the cut being marinated.

HOW TO MAKE IT:

2 Rinse the meat in cold water, pat it dry and cut it into pieces. Prepare the herbs and spices you intend to use and mix with the milk.

Put the meat into a bowl and pour over the marinade. The meat should be fully covered by the liquid so that no parts of it dry out. Tip: Make sure that the bowl you use is resistant to acid (e.g. glass, porcelain or chromed steel).

You can also use vacuum pouches to marinate: just put the meat and other ingredients into a bag and use the vacuum

drawer to seal them hermetically.

Marinate the meat, covered, for 12 to 24 hours in the middle area of the fridge, turning over frequently. In some recipes from further afield, the meat is then cooked in the marinade in the oven.

If you are using the recipe for milk-marinated chilli chicken (see booklet, “Nice to eat you”), leave the meat to drip dry before coating in breadcrumbs and frying it in generous amounts of clarified butter.

3

Wasabi, chilli and other strong flavours can be used both to add heat and keep meat longer. Avoid salt, however, as this draws the meat juices out into the marinade – to the detriment of its intrinsic taste.

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THICKENING AND GEL ATINISING W H E T H E R YO U WA N T A L I G H T A N D A I R Y R E S U LT O R S O M E T H I N G S M O O T H A N D S L I C E A B L E , S E T T I N G T H I N G S I N T H E F R I D G E I S T H E WAY T O MAKE LIQUIDS INTO SOLIDS.

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1 T H I S W A Y O F C O O K I N G I S U S E D to turn water-based or creamy liquids into a solid mass. Pâtissiers use it to make mousses and cream fillings, for instance, and to get fruit desserts to set. A range of savoury dishes, too, are cooled and set to aspic, such as terrines, pies and brawn. In most cases, the only way a liquid can be solidified into jelly is by adding agar, pectin or gelatine; creamy liquids can be brought to setting point using thickening agents such as carob gum, arrowroot, corn starch and chickpea flower or absorbent ingredients which expand when soaked in liquids such as semolina.

HOW TO MAKE IT:

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2 Depending on the precise recipe, the liquid base – e.g. cream cheese or fruit juice – is mixed with other ingredients and seasoned to taste; next, the gelling agent is prepared. Gelatine can be used both for sweet and savoury dishes and needs to be soaked in cold water for a few minutes prior to use.

Once squeezed out, the sheets are then dissolved in water over a low heat and must be stirred constantly; if the temperature is too high, the gelatine will lose its setting effect.

Plant-based alternatives such as agar are boiled up

for 1-2 minutes before use, meaning that they are unsuited to dishes which cannot be heated (often dessert recipes). For mousses and similar, the key is to add gelling agents, once fully dissolved, to the mass before any further ingredients which need to be folded in, such as whipped cream or egg whites. These dishes should then be put as low down in the fridge as possible – in the Dry Zone if you are using a Neff freshness system – so that the setting agent absorbs liquid and creates a relatively solid mass.

3

Lemon zest, capers and herbs all add flavour to the goat’s cream cheese. The classic mousse texture with lots of small air bubbles is achieved by folding in whipped cream. You can find this recipe in the booklet “Nice to eat you”.

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CUR ING T H I S T R A D I T I O N A L WAY O F P R E S E R V I N G M E AT A N D F I S H W I T H S A LT, F R E S H H E R B S A N D S P I C E S U S E D T O B E A M AT T E R O F N EC E S S I T Y. N O W, I T ’ S A L L A B O U T F L AV O U R .

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1 W H O W O U L D H A V E T H O U G H T that the recipe for a starter as luxurious as gravlax was actually developed hundreds of years ago as a matter of necessity?

Fisherman, looking for ways to make their catch less perishable, would rub salt, herbs and spices into fish they had already gutted and cleaned on their boats and then bury them in the cold ground for a few days. We, of course, can replace the hole in the ground with our fridges, but the rest of the recipe for this dry cure has hardly changed since those less carefree days.

Left in the middle part of the fridge, salt draws water out of the fish, changing its texture and making it keep for longer, while herbs and spices add a subtle flavour.

This doesn’t just work for fish, either; meat, too, can be cured in this way with delicious results.

HOW TO DO IT:

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2 Start by removing bones from the filet of fish.

Then mix salt, sugar and seasonings, and spread this dry cure over the fish.

For the best results, the mixture should have at least four percent salt; slices of lemon add to the effect of the salt on the sinews in the cut of fish; you can also add freshly-chopped herbs and spices on top of the mixture.

Next, pile up the cuts, wrap them up in waxed paper or cling film, tying them up tightly or placing a weight on top of them. Put them into a dish so that the liquid produced by the curing process can drain off. Leave the package in the bottom drawer of the fridge for 48 hours; if you are using the Neff freshness system FreshSafe 2 or 3, we recommend the Dry Zone.

At the 24-hour point, pour off the liquid and turn the fish. Cut into bite-sized pieces prior to serving.

3

In the booklet “Nice to eat you”, you will find a recipe for cured filets of salmon and pike-perch; the fish is prepared with salt, sugar, lemon and herbs, and is then cured in the fridge in waxed paper. Serve with a tasty radish salad.

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FREEZER: Temperatures in the freezer are, as the name suggests, sub-zero, making them ideal for frozen foods and ice cream, as well as for keeping fruits and vegetables (if properly prepared).

Refrigeration is not ideal for bread, which goes stale more quickly if stored in the fridge.

AR T WORK

_ _ _ M ON A

D ES S AU L

FRIDGE INTERIOR* Sophisticated technical equipment is used to keep the temperature in the interior of the fridge constant, at between 2°C and 8°C, making it perfect for foodstuffs which do not spoil quickly like marmalade and jam, mustard and bottled sauces, and prepared dishes such as couscous.

Smoked and cooked items will also keep well here, as will milk and dairy products (yoghurts, cream and ripe soft cheeses). Young white wines are best chilled in this part of the fridge prior to drinking, too.

T O DAY ’ S F R I D G E S H AV E J U S T T H E R IG H T A R E A F O R E AC H A N D E V E RY T Y P E O F F O O D.

W I T H T H E I R F L E X I B L E T E M P E R AT U R E A N D H U M I D I T Y C O N T RO L ,

CHILL OUT? NO, CHILL IN!

K NOW YOU R FR I DGE

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**The NEFF range of fresh storage systems like FreshSafe or offer the best possible storage for foods of all kind.

M E AT, F I S H & C H E E S E D R AW E R * *: In this part of the fridge, temperatures are low (just above freezing) and the conditions rather dry, making it hard for bacteria to survive. This means that it’s the perfect place to store cold cuts, meat, fresh fish and seafood, as well as hard cheeses.

SA L A D & V EGETABLE D R AW E R * * : The salad drawer is where you’ll find the perfect conditions for keeping fruit and vegetables fresh; with a temperature just above zero and higher levels of humidity, it helps conserve vitamins and flavour, keeping greens and fruits fresher for up to three times longer. Avoid washing vegetables before storing as excessive wetness can lead to mould forming quickly.

As a basic principle, try not to pack too much into fridge drawers as air cannot circulate in overfilled compartments, hindering the cooling effect.

Cold-sensitive vegetables such as cucumbers, courgettes, green beans as well as citrus or exotic fruits and avocados should not be kept in the fridge, otherwise they will quickly start to lose their flavour.

The ideal storage space for eggs and butter, the shelves in the fridge door are also where coffee keeps its aroma longest if sealed airtight.

Juices, lemonade and bubbly straight from inside the fridge door are at the just the right serving temperature.

FRIDGE DOOR:

The fridge is too cold for potatoes, which will start to turn their starch into sugar if not stored in warmer place.

*Neff offers a range of flexible, user-friendly storage solutions for fridge interiors such as the VarioShelf, a glass surface which can be divided into sections, and the EasyAccess Shelf, a retractable glass tray.

KITCHEN CRAFT

B I O M AT T HI AS KAISER Born and raised in the hilly Styria region of Austria, Matthias Kaiser later moved to N e w Yo r k , w h e r e he became fascinated by the work of a ceramic artist. He enrolled at t h e P a r s on’s School of Design and spent two years working with Japanese masters, also travelling around countries such as Iran; all of this has helped make his unique, beautiful style what it i s to d ay.

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JENS PREUSSE, LISA EDI ___

M AT T H I A S K A I SE R U S E S C L AY F ROM H IS ST Y R I A N HOMELAND TO M A K E J UG S, BOW L S AND SCULPTURES I N S P I R E D BY J A PA N E S E A EST H ET ICS.

PHOTOGR APHY

M A ST H T E E R E OA R F T H

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KITCHEN CRAFT

INTE R V I EW

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FR A N Z IS K A

W IS C H M A N N

Your ceramics are popular the world over, but where specifically do your influences come from?

I grew up in Graz, a medium-sized city in Austria; my parents were biologists and so we spent a lot of time outdoors with them – and our house was full of animals, including toads and a bat. This close connection to nature, this awareness of units and structures, has certainly moulded me. I wasn’t conscious of it doing so at the time, of course; it was intuitive. Things you learn early are what shape your mind and perceptions.

Back then, though, it wasn’t ceramics that you were interested in, but rather music – jazz music…

Music was a completely new stimulus that I came to through friends at grammar school. I was a complete mess at school: I never managed to get my leaver’s certificate, nor did I finish vocational training

IDYLLIC REFUGE Matthias Kaiser has built a workshop like those of his Japanese masters – in his grandparents’ 900-year-old farmhouse.

or complete a degree. I just could not get along with officialdom, and I never felt like a needed a stamp of approval on anything I did, either. I was interested in the substance of the matter, about experiences I could have. So I would go out and get what I needed until I felt I’d had enough, and then I’d move on to the next thing. I never thought for a moment about consequences, career planning, anything like that.

And what brought you to New York?

Music – or were you already into ceramics at that point?

I went to New York to play saxophone, but I was soon using my fingers to manipulate something quite different: clay. I felt the need for something natural and familiar in my room, and so I used clay to make swallows’ nests – swallows mix mud and saliva to make their shelters overhead, and I did the same, hanging the models on the ceiling. It was the first time I’d used clay. A short time later, I came across a ceramic stall at an arts and crafts market, and I was particularly fascinated by a piece of porcelain with the patterning of a sponge in speckled cobalt blue. That made me sign up for a ceramics course, which I paid for with earnings from various jobs in restaurants. I took to pottery with ease, and so went on to a ceramics course at Parson’s School of Design in New York. I was often the last one out of the workshop in the evenings, and slowly, the saxophone became less of a priority and fell away entirely. So switching from a harmonious saxophone to a potter’s wheel was a gradual process.

How did you end up in Asia?

During my degree, I found myself being particularly interested by objects from Asia and started reading everything about them I could get my hands on. At the time, I was in a relationship with a Japanese woman who got me in touch with a master craftsman in country. I used the six months before leaving to learn the language and find out as much about life in Japan as I could. The thing is with me: if I do something, I dedicate myself to it with all my enthusiasm.

What is the greatest difference between western and Japanese techniques?

At first, I could not understand what my Japanese teachers found so attractive about earth-coloured, asymmetric, often quite imperfect objects. It took me a while until I realised that they wanted to see a story, not worship a shiny item. Noticeable traces of the

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PHOTOGR APHY _ _ _ LISA EDI

HARMONISING BET WEEN A FARMER’S COT TAGE AND JAPANESE MINIMALISM Using a foot-operated potter’s wheel, Matthias Kaiser creates special works of art and everyday objects alike.

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making process reveal more about the potter and about the materials involved, while signs of use – damage, even – add a narrative aspect to the piece.

So the main thing is not technique, but showing character as it relates to materials and the dimension of time. This aesthetic approach almost certainly comes from Shintoism, a belief system which attributes agency to nature.

PHOTOGR APHY

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LISA EDI, ELSA OKAZAKI

So irregularities are particularly valued?

As a Western observer, the first thing that springs to mind is probably clumsy handiwork – but that impression is deceptive, because it’s about becoming so at one with the techniques of the art that it becomes superfluous to demonstrate skill. This is a long, long journey, and it is said that you can tell how old a potter is from the tea bowls, called chawan, that they produce. The bowls are intended to reflect the person as a whole, and this person is not perfect either – and is mature enough to not need to pretend that they are. In this way, authenticity is characteristic of the whole manufacturing process; the materials chosen have something to say, and the consistency of impure clay – with all its various earth elements such as iron ore, sand and quartz – add an extra dimension to the tsuchi-aji, the flavour of the clay. This respect for basic materials is what allows the artist to take a step back and enter into a dialogue with the resources used.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

For me, creativity is a kind of reservoir which gets filled up over the years, in which different things, old and new, start to mix – and which you can dive into for ideas. I was always searching for immediacy, for authenticity in my experiences, and it all flows in: the visual, the spiritual and many dark things, too.

It helps to be open and aware, and perhaps my receptiveness to some things has been sharpened by my experiences with nature. Again and again in my life, I have exposed myself to situations which have shaken me to the core; moving to other countries and starting to work without even understanding the language is an experience of being vulnerable; this, in turn, creates wounds and sensitises you. The result is that you feel less secure, but that you’ve had enriching experiences.

You’ve now reached a point where you can live well from your art. What does money mean to you?

Luckily, I’ve never had a problem parting from my pieces. I see each piece as a step on the stairwell to even better work; selling my work gives me space to develop. The danger of financial success is that it can tempt you to take a more commercial route, and that’s something I try to avoid. If I ever get the feeling that I’m not being challenged enough creatively because lots of customers are asking for the same sort of work, I invent a new project like The Loyal Exports: that’s an annual initiative in which I sell exciting new work for €1 a piece at local marketplaces in India or Africa.

UNMISTAKABLE ST YLE The clay in the region of Styria gives Kaiser “a huge amount of creative space”, as he says, and no two objects made from it are alike.

Some of your most successful pieces are chawans. What do you drink from this form of bowl?

Chawan means “tea bowl”, and they’re specifically intended for matcha, a powdered green tea drunk at tea ceremonies, but also on a day-to-day basis, in Japan and Korea. The bowls are big – closer to cereal-bowl size – as the tea is whipped up inside them with a whisk made of bamboo. As an object, chawan have a deep cultural significance, however, and it’s no exaggeration to read them as live sculptures. The refinement at the basis of each aspect of their form and surface is of great interest. These attributes cannot be falsified or simulated, but are the result of improvisation and, once produced, cannot be recalled or improved – just like music. That’s the challenge, and measured against it, my chawans are still very much the work of a beginner.

Do you have a favourite?

I like to use ceramics produced by other artists I’m friends with, or antique pieces, more than my own work. Drinking from my own bowls, it’s often hard for me to see beyond what I don’t think was good enough about them. That’s strange inasmuch as I actually like blemishes – such as the ones on my favourite bowl, which I bought at a bazaar in Mumbai. Although it’s a factory piece, it’s got so many imperfections that it has its own charming personality. - TI 55

UPCYCLING SUC CESS

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PHOTOGR APHY

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K AT H A R I N A B O H M (1)

“A N Y M I L K T O D A Y, M I S T R E S S ? ” Getting it straight from the source?

Yo u c a n f i t a w h o l e l i t r e o f m i l k i n t o t h i s reusable swing-top milk bottle made of recycled glass (with a classic cow relief ).

Costs around €8, w w w. t o r qu at o. at A FRIEND IN CHEESE

S P O O N I N G S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

W i l k i n & S o n s T i p t r e e h a v e a f r u i t y, savoury tomato chutney that is just the right accompaniment to strong-flavoured cheeses and red meat.

Retails at £2.10, w w w. r e d m o p e d . c o. u k

This granite-ceramic yoghurt-maker will ferment milk with starter cultures – w i t h o u t e l e c t r i c i t y. Ju s t p o p o n t h e woolly cap to bring it up to temperature.

Retails at €74, w w w. m anu f a c t u m . d e

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P L A N T- B A S E D D R I N K S

MILK, BUT NOT D R I N K S M A DE O F S OY, G R A I N O R N U T S C A N C O M E C L O S E T O A N I M A L M I L K . OU R N U T R I T I O N E X P E R T TA K E S A C L O S E R L O O K AT P L A N T-BA S E D M I L K S U B S T I T U T E S .

T E X T

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P H OTO G R A P H Y FO O D ST Y L IN G

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I N G A PAUL S EN _ _ _ REINH ARD H UN GER _ _ _ CH RISTOPH H IM M EL

KNOWLEDGE

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2 4 1 3 KNOWLEDGE

ALMOND MILK*

SOY MILK*

This drink actually has a long tradition in China, where it is available as both a sweet and savoury variant; it’s also become the classic milk alternative in the western world. Soy drinks are made of dried soybeans and water, and if you have a soy milk maker, you can produce it yourself in about 20 minutes. In its pure form, soy milk can replace cow’s milk in various forms of coffee and shakes, and can also be used for milk in baking and cooking.

Nutrition in the carton: 100ml of soy milk contain 54 kcal, 1.8g fat, 6g carbohydrates, 3.3g protein; Tasting notes: A little more watery than real milk; has a slightly malty scent and is sweet to the taste; Price: Roughly one euro per litre; S U M M A R Y : Soy milk is ideal as a snack drink as its protein fills you up; it also packs a lot of folic acid, saponins (which protect your cells) and healthy flavonoids. It’s important to opt for organic if you want to avoid genetically modified crops and additives, though.

This one’s been around since the Middle Ages, when potions made of crushed almonds, water, spices and fruits were drunk as refreshments.

Made at home, fresh almond milk is tasty, nutritious and rich in vitamins and minerals, as well as healthy fats.

Supermarket products, however, often contain a very low proportion of almonds – and a lot of water, sugar and additives. In its pure form, almond milk is a good option for shakes, desserts and to add creaminess to vegan soups.

Nutrition in the carton: 100ml of almond milk contain 24 kcal, 1.1g fat, 3g carbohydrates, 0.5g protein; Tasting notes: Fresh, homemade almond milk has a light sweetness and is reminiscent of marzipan; shopbought versions have very little by way of natural almond aroma; Price: 1 litre averages at around €2.75; S U M M A R Y : If you make it yourself, almond milk is a tasty, healthy alternative to cow’s milk, as almonds contain valuable B-vitamins, anti-oxidant vitamin E, calcium, and iron Ready-made products are more expensive than cow’s milk and contain fewer vitamins and minerals.

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RICE MILK*

NUT MILKS*

Vegan milks can also be made from other nuts such as hazelnuts, macadamias and cashews. All of these nuts make milk which is rich in unsaturated fats, vitamins and minerals; nut milks are perfect on cereals and muesli or in baking and dessert cookery. Unfortunately, most shop-bought versions only contain around 2.5 per cent nuts, with the rest of the carton’s contents composed primarily of water, sugar, stabilisers, emulsifiers and flavourings various.

Nutrition in the carton: 100ml of nut milk contain 29 kcal, 1.6g fat, 3.1g carbohydrates, 0.4g protein; Tasting notes: Generally nutty with slightly sweet flavours; Price: Roughly €2.50 per litre; SUMM A RY: Home-made nut drinks are a delicious lactose and cholesterol-free alternative to milk. It’s important to remember that many of the industrially-produced products don’t have anything like as much protein or near as much trace elements as the real thing, though, and that they tend to be a lot pricier to boot.

To make rice milk, whole brown grains are ground, boiled and pressed; the resulting liquid is fermented, filtered, mixed with vegetable oil and emulsified. This process leaves little of the original contents of the wholegrain rice, so producers tend to add salt, sugar, flavourings and even vitamin and mineral supplements.

Just like cow’s milk, rice milk can be drunk on its own or mixed, and is also great for baking and cooking.

Nutrition in the carton: 100ml of rice milk contain 47 kcal, 1g fat, 9g carbohydrates, 0.3g protein; Tasting notes: Drunk pure, it tastes very watery and ever so slightly of rice pudding; Price: 1 litre costs around 2 euros; S U M M A R Y : Rice milk contains far fewer vitamins and minerals than cow’s milk and is not suited as a source of protein or calcium.

It can be a useful substitute for people with allergies in some cases.

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OAT M I L K *

To make oat milk, all you need to do is boil up oatmeal in water, blend it and sieve it: what drops into the glass is oat milk, and it’s low in fat, free of cholesterol and – in contrast to animal milk – high in fibre. In flavour terms, it works well in recipes with cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon and tonka beans, making it perfect for use in shakes, breakfast dishes and baking.

Nutrition in the carton: 100ml of oat milk contain 41 kcal, 1.1g fat, 7g carbohydrates, 0.6g protein; Tasting notes: It tastes very intensively of oats; when shaken, its consistency comes close to that of animal milk; Price: 1 litre costs around 2 euros; S U M M A R Y : A glass of oat drink gives you a range of valuable B-vitamins and minerals such as magnesium; it can’t keep up with real milk in terms of calcium, though. The downside is that many industriallyproduced oat milks contain vegetable oil, salt, flavouring and sweeteners, as well as preservatives.

S P E LT M I L K *

COCONUT MILK*

This plant milk is made by soaking spelt grains (also known as dinkel or hulled wheat) for twelve hours before sieving the grains, puréeing them with water and straining them. The resulting liquid run-off is a low-calorie drink with some of the vitamins and minerals of the grain. Industriallyproduced versions contain roughly 11 per cent spelt, with the rest of the drink made up of water, vegetable oil and flavouring additions such as sea salt. Spelt milk works well in smoothies or in muesli mixtures or baked goods.

Nutrition in the carton: 100ml of spelt milk contain 45 kcal, 1.5g fat, 8.4g carbohydrates, 0.8g protein; Tasting notes: With a decidedly malty scent and taste, spelt is clearly a grain product. It needs to be shaken well before drinking for it to have a milky consistency; Price: Around €2.10 per litre; S U M M A R Y : Like all the other vegan replacements, spelt milk makes a good alternative for people with lactose intolerance or an allergy to milk proteins. Tastewise, it takes quite some getting used to.

In the countries from which the fruit hails, coconut milk is considered a staple, produced by grinding and pressing the flesh of the coconut. Rich in potassium, sodium and magnesium, coconut milk also has a relatively high fat content, composed primarily of healthy saturated fats.

Its intensive flavour suits a range of fruity shakes, cocktails and Asian specialities.

Nutrition in the carton: 100ml of coconut milk contain 160 kcal, 18g fat, 1.8g carbohydrates, 1.8g protein; Tasting notes: Drunk pure, it tastes creamy, fruity and sweet – and of coconut. Thinned down in shop-bought drinks, it’s somewhat blander; Price: 1 litre clocks in at around 5 euros; S U M M A R Y : Coconut milk is healthy and fills you up; nevertheless, it’s a good idea to limit your consumption of it if you want to keep yourself slim – and your wallet fat…

HEMP MILK*

In Hollywood, this drink made from hemp seeds is very much on trend at the moment – and that’s no wonder, given hemp’s cholesterolfree credentials and its strong showing in terms of omega-3 fatty acids.

Its high magnesium content makes it an ideal breakfast drink for sporty types, and it’s considered to be easily digestible and a good substitute in cooking and baking.

Nutrition in the carton: 100ml of hemp milk contain 37 kcal, 2.7g fat, 1.9g carbohydrates, 1g protein; Tasting notes: In terms of consistency, it’s somewhat creamier than cow’s milk and has a slightly nutty flavour; Price: 1 litre costs around €2.80; SUMM A RY: Although pricier than most, this milk alternative makes up for it in terms of flavour and its usefulness in avoiding allergens.

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* In many European countries, the word for “milk” can only be used on products which have come out of the udder of an animal; you’ll see that many of the products mentioned are sold as “drinks”.

Nevertheless, in spoken use, most languages refer to milk substitutes as milk.

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BREWED UP

STILL MILKING IT F O R Y E A R S O N E N D, M I L K H A D A G R E AT R E P U TAT I O N : I T WA S H E A LT H Y, E N D O F S T O RY. Y E T N OWA DAY S , M I L K I S BAT T L I N G W I T H BA D P U B L IC I T Y. U N FA I R LY S O , S AY S OU R C O L U M N I S T.

T E X T

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P H ILIPP

PHOTOGR APHY

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THINKSTOCK, R.HUNGER

DRESSED IN HIS GREY OVERALL AND S A I L O R ’ S C A P , the caretaker would set up next to

the gymnasium and sell vanilla-flavoured milk – half a litre for 30 cents. This was quite some time before the introduction of the euro. He would man his table every break-time, and his table was quite simply where it was at in my primary school; vanilla milk was the in-drink. Although strawberry and chocolate milk weren’t as popular, one thing that was clear to everyone where I grew up back in the 1980s was that milk was healthy. Everyone knew that.

Recently, though, I was waiting outside the gates of our local primary school to pick up my daughter and got chatting to a few other parents – about milk. I’d just bought some, and a mother started explaining to me that milk attacks bones; a father weighed in with his theory that Europeans can’t digest milk. The third one to comment was pleased that they’d gotten rid of

K O H L H Ö F E R­­

milk in schools now because it was, according to her, the root of a whole range of the diseases of civilisation plaguing our modern world. Milk, as far as those three parents are concerned, is unhealthy. There’s even a vociferous minority out there which claims that milk drinkers die earlier, and in some of urban hipster districts, you could get the impression that everybody is lactose intolerant. Did I miss something?

Okay, so milk certainly isn’t the wondrous tonic it was once claimed to be. Back in the 1950s, dairies across Europe produced campaigns showing burly fellows with Popeye-style biceps clutching a can of milk. The message was clear – and oversimplified.

Yes, milk does contain lots of amino acids, potassium, magnesium, iodine, soluble vitamins and more calcium than any other foodstuff; but you can get all of these things elsewhere, too. It’s perfectly possible to get by without milk. On the other hand, it was considerably 63

easier for our ancestors to cover many of their nutritional needs with milk than by chomping through heaps of hard-grown and hard-foraged vegetables.

That’s why milk is a product like no other, a potent symbol of co-evolution, of the symbiotic development of humans with and through livestock. Cows, sheep, pigs and goats were first domesticated in the Middle East, slowly spreading into Europe, where humanity’s joint history with the cow stretches back almost 8000 years. We became lactose-tolerant because milk was available and helped us to survive, and our genetic adaptation to cow’s milk as a foodstuff happened comparatively quickly. Joachim Burger, a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Mainz known for his research into the digestion of milk, says the shift was “one of the strongest evolutionary forces we have ever seen in the human genome”. In Germany today, around 85% of the population can consume milk without any complaints.

Asians, who aren’t known for their love of dairy produce, have lower rates of osteoporosis than milk-swilling Europeans and North Americans. Yet using this as proof that not drinking milk is better for your bones than drinking it flies in the face of scientific principles inasmuch as calcium is only one factor in keeping bones healthy – alongside age, exercise and 64

exposure to sunlight. And besides, it is very difficult to draw direct comparisons between two populations with such different dietary habits.

Milk’s image problem is not about science, though, but about political and cultural shifts. During the Second World War, dairy produce was hard to come by, and many regimes used propaganda to convince their populations that they were better off without it.

In Nazi Germany, for instance, there were campaigns to defame milk as a danger to health, whose effect was supported by the fact that milk had, in the past, often been contaminated. Farmers would use water to stretch their output, and it wasn’t until 1930 that German lawmakers produced legislation on the purity of milk, prescribing that it had to be heated prior to consumption to kill off pathogenic germs. Yet even in the post-war years, it was not uncommon for people in Europe to catch tuberculosis from milk.

Nevertheless, following the years of rationing, the continent’s populations were in need of high-fat, high-carbohydrate foodstuffs, and dairy farmers received subsidies, which worked so well that the supply of milk soon outstripped demand. And so sales campaigns were started and dairy companies started to make a whole range of advertising claims not backed up by the facts: that’s why your grandparents

BREWED UP

BAC K I N T H E

1980s

MILK WAS H E A LT H Y. E V E RYON E K N E W T HAT.

were convinced that milk makes your teeth and bones strong. That’s also why, in the 1950s, American-style “Milk Bars” started popping up all over the place, and people soon associated the drink with the boom years.

Consumption increased rapidly across Europe, and in 1977, the European Economic Community (EEC; today, the EU) even started subsidising the distribution of milk in schools. Whether this measure had anything to do with the results of rampant overproduction, which had become known as the “Milk Lake”, or not, it’s certainly beyond denial that farmers in the late 70s and early 80s were producing as much milk as they could and someone had to drink it; as there wasn’t a natural market for it, the EEC stepped in and bought what was left over for a guaranteed price.

With all this milk sloshing around, anyone willing to drink it was a welcome prospect: schoolkids included.

Yet the Milk Lakes continued to grow and so on 1st April 1983, the milk quota was introduced. In force until April 2015, it reduced the surplus and slowed the price nosedive somewhat, but could not prevent the disappearance of around 80 per cent of all dairy farms in the intervening thirty-two years. At the same time, the public view of milk changed as more information about cows bred purely for production and their conditions in industrial agriculture became known.

For most consumers today, milk is little more than another mass-produced commodity. I remember, when I was young, my parents would send me round the corner to buy milk from the local farmer. A litre cost one Deutschmark. That’s almost 30 years ago now, and in November 2016, the price that dairies pay their farmers was at around 30 euro cents. I do the maths in my head and it seems hard to avoid the conclu­sion that, if we want to change the way consumers see milk, a good way to start would be to raise the price.

That would also have the beneficial side effect of helping dairy farmers survive and allowing them to keep their cows in better conditions.

Perhaps, though, the price would change nothing.

In an age when it’s almost impossible to really stand out with clothing style, taste in music and sexual preferences, not buying milk is roughly equivalent to buying a particular pair of trainers: it’s a mass-market consumer’s doomed attempt at individuality, signalling how switched on and unique they are by thinking about what they put into their bodies.

So should we follow them and switch to soy milk?

Well, all I’ll say is that if you’re looking to find a link between soy products and health issues, the internet will be more than happy to help you. - TI 65

HARD CHEESE AT I T S MO ST BA SIC L EV E L , CH E E SE-M A K I NG I S T H E A R T O F C O N T R O L L I N G T H E WA Y M I L K AGE S . S O W H AT D O YOU N E E D TO K NOW TO D OT H IS YOU R SE L F A N D M A K E A S U C C E S S O F I T ? O U R AU T H O R G I V E S I T A T RY.

T E X T

THERE ARE GOOD BACTERIA ,

and then there are bad bacteria.

The latter of the two can be, quite literally, deadly. The former, however, the good ones, are essential: we need them to stay healthy and to make some of our favourite foods – foods like cheese, for example. If you want to harness the help of these good bacteria cultures, you need above all to give them the kind of conditions they like; and since I’m going to need their help during my experiment, I run them a nice, warm milk bath on my stove as a way of currying their favour. Next to me is a do-it-yourself cheese-making kit (ordered from www.kaese-selber. de) and a whole host of cultures just waiting – so I hope – to get to work.

Making it yourself is making it There is a noticeble trend towards making things at home. As a reaction to the uniformity of the big supermarket chains, courses in which experts impart their

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I N G A

PAUL S EN

beer-brewing, fish-smoking, sausage-making or fruit-fermenting skills to Joe Public are booming.

I too love to make things myself: generally, the basic foodstuffs I can learn to produce taste great and give me a lasting pride in my own craft; but to date, I haven’t plucked up enough courage to make cheese. Maturing cheese especially seemed a step too far; isn’t every maître fromager affineur a kind of artist? Then again, if there are beginners’ packs out there on the internet, how hard can it be? I decide to give it a try.

The set is advertised as containing everything I’ll need – which is good, because it’s definitely more than I was expecting: mesophilic starter cultures, natural rennet extract, calcium chloride (35%), a cheese form with holes and a plastic press, a cheesecloth and, finally, a “cheese mat” for drippings. After reading the instructions, I start by heating five litres of pasteurised milk; when it

gets to 25°C, I add a spoonful of the starter culture and forty drops of a saline solution made with water and the calcium chloride; once the cooking thermometer shows 36°C, I remove the pan from the heat as this is the temperature my little microbial helpers like best and now they really should be getting going. To help them out, I add one millilitre of natural rennet dissolved in water.

Now it’s time to slow things down: the milk needs to rest for thirty minutes while the lactic acid bacteria and enzymes turn the liquid into a strongly coagulated mass. This curdled mass looks exactly like the one in the instruction video, so I keep going by the book, using a long, sharp stainless steel knife to cut it into columns, cutting ten times across and ten times lengthways. Then I wait for another ten minutes so that the whey released by the cuts can drain off and then I do the whole thing again - twice.

PHOTOGR APHY

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STOCKFOOD / G.SEPER, R HUNGER

HOMEMADE

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1

2

It’s lunchtime before I can actually start to use the pressed cheese curd. I take it out of the form every 30 minutes, turning it, putting it back and weighting the press a total of four times. I’m starting to lose my enthusiasm by this stage, with the amount of effort striking me as disproportionately high in comparison to the small size of the cheese which, two hours later, is now sat in front of me, pockmarked with visible pores.

The good news, though, is that I’m done for today because it needs another 15 hours to dry off.

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J . A . B R I L L AT- S AVA R I N , P O L I T I C I A N , W R I T E R A N D G O U R M E T

Even after the prescribed pauses in the process two hours in, what I’ve got is not looking anything like curd cheese. Referring to the instructions, I see that the lentilsized casein grains in the whey need another hour and a half during which I have to stir them with a spoon every twenty minutes.

That leaves me with plenty of breaks in which I can surf the net and read up about cheese-making.

While doing just that, I discover that now would be the time to add any herbs or spices I might want to. Eventually, my phone timer tells me that the 90 minutes are over and that I can move on to the next step: draining the curds and pressing them into the form. So I put the cheese form into a tray to catch the whey run-off and start packing the curds into it, weighing down the press with a weight (in my case, a bottle of water) to squeeze the liquid out of the cheese. This takes a while, though, because the form can’t hold all of the milk; I need three goes with 15 minutes of pressing for each batch.

BE AU T I F U L WOM A N W I T H ON LY ON E E Y E .”

STRAINING THE CURDS Before being pressed, the whey must be drained off of the curds; traditionally, this is done by placing them in cheesecloths or presses with drainage holes. The sweet whey run-off makes a tasty drink, by the way!

“A DE S SE RT W I T HOU T C H E E SE I S L I K E A

CUT, STIR, REST – REPEAT Once the milk has thickened, a knife or harp is used to cut the nascent cheese, which is stirred periodically. Among other characteristics, the size of the casein grains determines the consistency of the finished cheese.

The next day, I hit the home straight and work starts by bathing the cheese in brine; one hundred minutes later, I am finally swaddling and placing the result of so many hours of work, lovingly, into my brand new ripening box.

This breathable packaging will keep my baby nicely tucked up as it spends the next four to eight weeks developing its flavour on a stainless steel latticework grate.

Every now and then, I stop by and

HHEOI M E AM RB A ED IET

4

see how it’s getting on, brushing it with salt water and turning it; the rest of the work will, I hope, be taken care of by the forces of nature. I put the whole thing into the warmest part of the fridge and treat myself to a glass of the whey; it might be a by-product, but it tastes pretty good for a start.

cheese, I wonder, and ask the DIY box support team straight away.

They get back in touch and recommend cutting the ripening process short and eating the cheese immediately. Since it looks a bit like feta at this stage, I marinate the whole cheese in olive oil with some dried herbs and chilli, serving it two days later. The result is real soul food: its consistency is subtle and creamy, its flavour deeply aromatic. My frustration at not being able to finish the process is replaced by a feeling of happiness.

A family affair Over the coming days, my experiment becomes a sort of family project. My two sons, my husband and I – all of us look up to see how our cylinder-shaped project is coming along whenever we open the fridge for whatever reason.

Visitors, too, get to take a look if they’re interested. Whenever I treat it with salt brine, I can feel under the brush how the cheese is changing. It gets harder and the rind starts to wrinkle; everything’s going to plan – that is, until, just over a week in, I discover a small patch of mould under the grate on which it is drying out.

Could this mould spread to my

B I L L M U R R AY, AC T O R

RIPENING TO PERFECTION Whether a cheese is round or cylindrical is a matter of how it is pressed, but the colour of the rind is a matter of how it is matured.

An orange or fluffy white exterior, for example, comes from specific bacterial cultures.

“L I F E I S T O O SHORT FOR

PRESSING THE CURDS By tying the cheesecloth ever tighter, the curd mass is squeezed ever further as more and more liquid is forced out; in a press, weighted lids are used to the same effect.

FA K E BU T T E R ,C H E E SE OR PE OPL E .”

PHOTOGR APHY

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A I L I N E L I E F E L D (1), S T O C K F O O D ( 2), R E I N H A R D H U N G E R (1)

3

What I’ve learned from the experiment is that you certainly can make cheese at home, but that it’s no speedy supper. You’ve got to work very hygienically, and have a lot of time and patience. When I next buy cheese at a farmer’s market, though, you won’t catch me being surprised at how much some types of cheese cost; in fact, all I’ll still be surprised at is just how much variety cheesemakers and cheesemongers manage to create out of this one basic ingredient.- TI 69

FINAL QUESTION

DR INKING R ESPECT C O N S U M P T I O N O F M I L K W O R L D W I D E I S G O I N G U P A N N U A L LY. Y E T A N I M A L M I L K I S N ’ T AC T U A L LY M E A N T F O R H U M A N C O N S U M P T I O N . W H AT D O E S T H E FAC T T H AT W E D R I N K S O M U C H O F I T S AY A B O U T U S A S A S P EC I E S?

IMPRINT

T E X T

CONCEPT AND EDITORIA L : Philipp und Keuntje GmbH Bei St. Annen 2 20457 Hamburg Tel. +49 40 28 00 70-0 www.philippundkeuntje.de

I like milk. And because I do, the vegans among my friends say that I’m a thief, stealing calves’ milk from under their noses. I’ve got a lot of respect for cows, though.

MAN AG ING DIRECTO RS: Dominik Philipp, Hartwig Keuntje, Torben Hansen, Wolfgang Block Amtsgericht Hamburg, HRB 69344 VAT DE 812628667

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P H ILIPP

K O H L H Ö F E R­­

First things first: nothing on this world was actually created specifically for human consumption – be it an animal or a plant. Grain is, all things told, simply repurposed grass. This approach hasn’t harmed us, though. In fact, never before in history have we had so many different, flavoursome and healthy products to choose from.

Yet despite this, a new sensitivity has developed around foodstuffs such as milk, which is pervaded with a despair of the effects of civilisation.

Is there any justification for this cultural pessimism?

It certainly cannot be denied that we humans are the only species which uses the milk of another species to feed adults, and for most of its history, mankind managed well enough without animal milk.

It wasn’t until around 8000 years back that a genetic mutation among some early Stone Age humans in the Balkans meant that they could digest milk. This gave them an edge on other populations, regularly decimated by poor harvests as humankind adapted to settled agriculture after millennia as hunter-gatherers.

Speaking of harvests, lots of people are now saying that eating too

ED ITOR-IN-CHIEF: Oliver Zacharias-Tölle AR T DIRECTOR: Christine Köhler D EPUT Y EDITOR IN CHIEF: Vito Avantario EDITORIAL STAFF: Franziska Wischmann, Ina Brzoska, Inga Paulsen, Philipp Kohlhöfer VISUAL EDITO R: Kerstin Richter AR T WORK: Ela Strickert, Mona Dessaul FOODS T YLING: Christoph Himmel POS T-PRO DUCTION: FOAG & Lemkau GmbH Joseph-Wild-Straße 13 81829 München PROOFING : Lloyd Bingham MAN AG ING EDITO RS: Kai Weise, Katrin Schorowsky COMMIS SIO NED BY: BSH Hausgeräte-GmbH Carl-Wery-Straße 34 81739 München PR INTED BY: WEBER

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much wheat makes you fat and stupid, maybe even gives you cancer.

Milk, too, has come under fire, with media coverage veering between alarmist claims that it is making us ill and the obligatory stand-down saying that it doesn’t. The only reason we as a species ever started drinking it, though, is because one of the things that has made homo sapiens so successful is our omnivorous nature. We drink milk because most of us can: no more, no less.

What’s probably at work here is the human need for belief systems – even among those who’ve given up on established churches. Food is definitely a surrogate religion. With more than 30 million tonnes of it being produced in Germany alone, milk is the best-selling agricultural product; and while the average cow once produced eight litres daily, nowadays that figure is 40.

Although their natural life expectancy is around 25, most dairy cows don’t make it beyond five years of age. This high consumption doesn’t say much about any specific love for milk, however, but it does tell us a lot about how we see ourselves as a species and about where we place ourselves in the natural pecking order.

Given this, it would make a big difference if we finally started to see cows as more than just producers of a raw material. As I said, I like milk; but I wouldn’t mind drinking less of it. - TI

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