Pasture to Plate: A Reflective Look at U.S Production and Consumption of Dairy

In October 2014, I became a vegetarian. My family was upset, claiming I would not be able to get the requisite calories, protein, and minerals in needed. Eventually they came to grudgingly accept my decision, as I experienced no detrimental health affects. One of the things that made my conversion bearable was my continual consumption of dairy products, cheese in particular. My family has always loved cheese. Despite all our different tastes and preferences, cheese is the one food we can all agree on. My family religiously complies by the FDA’s Recommended Daily Allowances of three servings of dairy a day, and at one point my doctor prescribed I consume five servings of dairy a day. As a vegetarian enthusiastic about cooking, I am able to convince my family to eat vegetarian by incorporating large amounts of cheese into my recipes. In undergrad, I even wrote a research paper on the rise of the grilled cheese sandwich as a comfort food in the United States. 

However, after my semester-long investigation of the United States dairy industry, dairy history, and cultures, I have come to realize that dairy is economically, politically, biologically, and culturally complicated.

As consumers, we carry a plethora of misconceptions about dairy. Interestingly though, compared to other foods, people take dairy personally. Dairy, what types of products and whether it is consumed at all, has become a source of identity for people around the world. In the U.S., the agrarian dream still persists and creates a pastoral image of our dairy sector where small family farms raise herds of cows on lush, green grassy pastures. However, our dairy industry is made up of fewer and lager farmer where cows never see grass or step outside. 

Between 2001 and 2009, the number of milk cow operations declined by 33 percent (USDA NASS, 2010). During that same period, the number of those operations became larger and more concentrated; milk cow operations with 500 or more cows increased by 20 percent and operations with 2,000 or more cows increased by 128 percent. Meanwhile, operations with less than 500 cows decreased by 35 percent (Ibid). These larger dairies account for a larger share of total milk production; in 2009 60 percent of milk production came from farms with 500 or more cows (up from 39 percent in 2001), and 31 percent came from farms with 2,000 or more cows (up from 13 percent in 2001). However, farms with less than 500 cows decreased in their share of total milk production, from 61 percent in 2001 to 41 percent of milk production in 2009 (Ibid). Milk production has also become more concentrated and shifted west. In 2009, the top milk producing states were California, Wisconsin, and New York, and the top-ten milk producing states accounted for nearly 74 percent of the total milk production in the United States (Ibid). 

How milk cows are treated and the face of who works on our dairy farms is also not what the typical consumer imagines. Today the average dairy cow produces six to seven times more milk than they did a century ago. Farmers push cows to produce more and more through constant impregnation from artificial insemination, with an average milk cow producing milk for as much as 305 days of the year. What is most troubling for me as a vegetarian is that after three to four years, when a cow’s milk production begins to slack off, they are culled from the herd for hamburger meat. In fact a large portion of our ground meat comes from culled dairy cows (Kurlansky, 2014). This puts my consumption as a vegetarian into question. While I became a vegetarian for sustainability reasons, the large, confined dairies that produce the majority of our country’s milk and milk products, while benefiting from economies of scale, are not necessarily environmentally or socially sustainable. 

Additionally, the faces on dairy farms are increasingly those of immigrants. Taking Wisconsin as an example, in a survey conducted in 2008 of Wisconsin’s dairy farms, they estimated that 40 percent of all hired labor was immigrants, and as the farm size increased, the proportion of immigrant workers also increased (Harrison et al, 2009). This figure is most likely higher due to absentee temporary workers, employers under-reporting due to the presence of illegal workers, and missing data. Harrison et al point to declining incomes among dairy farmers as the primary cause for farmers resorting to immigrant labor. Between 2012 and 2016, average net returns above all costs for dairy farms in all size categories was negative (Zulauf, 2017, 1). As a result, farmers have sought to increase their incomes by either increasing the size of their herd or milking cows more times per day. Also, on family farms, tighter farm budgets have necessitated family members seek off-farm employment. The higher labor need and the decrease in the available family labor has made cheap, immigrant labor attractive (Harrison et al, 2009).        

I cannot get into the human rights abuses experienced by immigrant farm workers here (which is pervasive throughout our food system). With all the issues mentioned above coming to the attention of some more-educated consumers, organic dairy has started to look like an ideal alternative. The number of organic dairy farms increased on average 25 percent annual between 2000 and 2005 (McBride & Greene, 2009, iii), and in 2016, U.S. organic dairy sales amounted to $6 billion (Whoriskey, 2017). In general, organic farms tend to be, on average, smaller than conventional farms, concentrated in the northeast, have higher costs per a cow and less milk production per cow, received higher prices per cwt, and are more likely to pasture their cows (McBride & Greene, 2009, iv). That being said, organic dairies are increasingly looking like conventional dairies. Farms are getting bigger, especially in the west and southwest, and cows stay in confinement for longer periods of time. The organic liquid milk market in the U.S. is also in the hands of only a few companies. While these companies still pay organic farmers higher premiums for their milk than conventional farmers, they have started to centralize their processing and switch to sourcing milk from large, conventional-looking organic dairy farms in Texas, New Mexico, and California (Whoriskey, 2017). Thus, even organic dairy is not what consumers think it is.

Aside from all the issues in the dairy industry, biologically should we even be consuming dairy? Genetically, for the most of the world population, the science says no. Lactose is a double molecule made of two smaller sugar molecules, glucose and galactose. In order for these sugar molecules to be absorbed by the small intestines, the chemical bond holding them together must be broken. In order to break that bond, the body requires an enzyme called lactase, a protein that catalyzes chemical reactions. Like all enzymes, there is a stretch of DNA that, when signaled, produces lactase. All our bodies produce lactase as babies, but after we stop consuming breast milk our bodies stop producing the enzyme and, thus, lose the ability to digest lactose (i.e. lactose intolerance). Lactose intolerance is the rule not the exception, yet we incorrectly perceive it as the minority, with high rates of intolerance everywhere in the world with only a few small pockets of exception (Scheindlin, 2007). 

Our ability to digest lactose is so new, in evolutionary terms, and so much in the minority, and yet it is promoted fervently as essential for proper human nutrition by Western medicine and government agricultural departments. The dietary advice promoted by these institutions helps indoctrinate a culture whereby dairy consumption is part of our society’s identity and makes up the fabric of our being. We are what we eat after all. And dairy is everywhere: the national RDA’s recommend three servings of dairy a day, encapsulated in a glass of milk on MyPlate; the industrial food industry exudes dairy, from fast food and processed food products to the strategic place of milk in grocery stores; and who can forget the USDA dairy checkoff  “Got Milk?” ads, with Olympic athletes sporting prominent milk mustaches? More consumers are challenging this culture though. Veganism is on the rise, and nondairy milk alternatives are challenging the liquid milk market, inciting panic in the dairy industry where profits are already nonexistent. Consumers are realizing, for one reason or another, that the claim that dairy is necessary for a healthy diet is not entirely true. The essential vitamins, minerals, and amino acids can be found in other sources in large enough quantities, such as calcium in dark, leafy greens. 

I do not plan on ceasing my consumption of dairy, and this is by no means supposed to be an attack on dairy. In fact, my dairy consumption, which had fallen when beginning grad school, may have increased during this semester’s investigation. However, this study has made me take a more critical look at the amount, source, and types of dairy products I consume as well as made me more critical and reflective of the tradeoffs involved in the production of the foods I consume. 

Harrison, J., Lloyd, S., O’Kane, T. (2009, Feb). Overview of Immigrat Workers on Wisconsin Dairy Farms. Changing Hands: Hired Labor on Wisconsin Dairy Farms. Briefing No. 1.

Kurlansky, M. (2014, Mar 17). Inside the milk machine: How modern dairy works. Modern Farmer. Retrieved from https://modernfarmer.com/2014/03/real-talk-milk/.

McBride, W. D. & Greene, C. (2009 Nov). Characteristics, Costs, and Issues for Organic Dairy Farming.USDA Economic Research Service. Economic Research Report No. 82. 

USDA NASS. (2010, Sept). Overview of the United States Dairy Industry. United Stated Department of Agriculture National Agriculture Statistic Service.

Scheindlin, B. (2007, Spet). Lactose intolerance and evolution: No use crying over undigested milk. Gastronomica. 

Whoriskey, P. (2017, May 1). Why your ‘organic’ milk may not be organic. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/why-your-organic-milk-may-not-be-organic/2017/05/01/708ce5bc-ed76-11e6-9662-6eedf1627882_story.html?utm_term=.252cb8924007.

Zulauf, C. (2017, May 25). Economies of size in producing milk and U.S. dairy policy: A key relationship. Farmdoc Daily(7): 1-4.

Cheese Comrades: Politics, Preservation, and Dairy Products in Russia

There is a cheese black market in Russia. Underground cheese dealers pedal their wares out of hidden backrooms in corner shops or set up clandestine online stores (Sgarro, 2015). Why the need for such drastic measures to obtain cheese? Politics, poverty, and a deep love for dairy. 

Little has been written about Russia’s dairy culture. In the Oxford Encyclopedia of Cheese, neither Russia nor any neighboring Eastern European country is included despite producing and consuming unique cheeses. Internationally, dairy in Russia is discussed in terms of imports, exports, and milk production rather than the products consumed and the role they play in Russian cuisine and culture. To study the role of dairy products in Russia, without going to Russia, sites promoting Russian culture to a wider audience are the main resources. These sites may or may not be supported by the Russian government (the online news site Russian Beyond, which serves as a news site to Russians living abroad and as a promoter of Russian culture to the wider world, is transparent about receiving funding from the Russian government. How much funding and how much autonomy they have is not clear.) However, from these and more reputable sources, I have pieced together a picture of Russia’s dairy culture, a culture based on ingenuity, preservation, and a love for microbes and dairy.

Roughly, Russian dairy products can fall into three categories: fermented drinks, yogurts, and other. The line between fermented drinks and yogurts is not always clear, and others may argue for a greater breakdown of categories. There appears to be a plethora of original dairy products in Russia, some of which are made in similar to identical ways and all of which are produced differently from household to household. Thus, there are too many dairy products to discuss them all here, but I will attempt to give a sense of what the dairy industry looks like and its role in the cuisine in Russia.

The majority of Russian dairy products come in the form of fermented milk drinks. Fermenting milk prolongs its self-life. The lack of refrigeration, the reliance of peasants on family dairy animals, and the deprivation of the Soviet Union necessitated the development of methods of preservation. The basis of most fermented dairy drinks in Russia is baked milk, or toplenoe. The traditional Slavic drink is made through prolonged heating without bringing the milk to a boil. 

Baked milk versus regular milk. Source: Honest Cooking http://honestcooking.com/russian-baked-milk/

Ryazhenkaand varents areboth made by adding sour cream to baked milk. Russians consider both drinks good for your health due to the probiotics, and they are popular with people trying to lose weight (Sorokina, 2018). A fermentation agent, usually sour cream, rye bread, or an acid, is also used to make the fermented milk drink prostokvasha (Ibid). Other fermented milk health drinks include kefir and kumis. Traditionally from the Caucasus but now a part of Russian cuisine, kefir is a fermented milk drink made by adding specific bacteria strains to milk. The drink is served in kindergartens and hospitals, usually with dill and parsley. It is popular with people trying to lose weight, and is used in dishes like okroshka, a chilled soup with a kefir base. Kumis is a traditional fermented mare’s milk drink in Bashkiria, Kalmykia, and among nomadic people. The bittersweet tasting drink is low in alcohol content (~3 percent) and is considered a super food that can improve metabolism and increase energy (ibid).

Kumis, a fermented mare's milk drink, comes from Kazakh culture where the horse is considered a gift from the Gods. Source: INDY Guide https://indy-guide.com/en/articles/what-is-kumis-and-why-we-need-it.

 While there is a never-ending variety of fermented milk drinks in Russia, there are only a few types of yogurts. Bulgarian yogurt is popular in Russia. An unstrained yogurt made from Lactobacillus bulgaricus, a native Bulgarian strain that is one of the most common yogurt cultures around the world, it has a tart flavor and creamy, loose texture. In contrast, Russian yogurt, also an unstrained yogurt, has a tangy and less tart taste and thicker texture (Krieger, 2017). While both yogurts are popular in Russia, coming in cow and goat milk varieties as well as different flavors, matzoon, a Caucasian cousin of yogurt, hold the title of “nectar of longevity.” Popular in Russia’s South, Georgia, and Armenia, it is believed to lower cholesterol levels, aid digestion, reduce blood pressure, and prevent early aging (Sorokina, 2018). 

The other main dairy products are sour cream (Smetana) and tvorog. Sour cream is a key ingredient in Russian cuisine, and it is one of the most popular condiments, served with and in practically everything. Tvorog is similar to cottage cheese, farmer cheese, or quark. A thick curd cheese, slightly drier than cottage cheese and with a slightly sweet, fresh taste, tvorog can be eaten with sour cream (of course), milk, or jam for breakfast. It can also be used as a filling in blini (crepe like pancakes) and boiled dumplings (vareniki), or it can be fired into thicker pancakes (cyrniki) with raisins or nuts or used in baked goods (sweet pierogies). It is also a popular food for babies due to its high protein content (Sorokina, 2018).

Cyrniki are thick pancakes made with tvorog. These are often served with sour cream and berries. Source: Gastronomiac https://www.gastronomiac.com/lexique_culinaire/cyrniki/.

Despite the pervasiveness of dairy in the Russian diet and cuisine, in the past decade the Russian dairy industry has struggled to meet demand. Half of Russia’s total milk herd is at household farms, and dairy farming in Russia is the least industrialized sector in the Russian economy. In 2016, Russia had 7.55 million milk cows producing 30 million metric tons of milk, but that number has decreased as commercial dairies increase milk production while “backyard farms” decrease output (Archwamety, n.d.). Part of the problem is the dairy industry is an unattractive profession to Russians. Lack of financing and modernization, volatile milk prices, downward tending margins, long payback period on investments, a history of inconsistent implementation of state dairy programs, increased use of vegetable oil substitutes by processors, dependence on consolidated chains, and declining demographics and lack of skilled workers in rural areas all contribute to the lack of young Russians entering dairy farming (Ibid).   

As a result, Russians relied on imports from the United States and European Union. However, in 2010, after a disagreement over product certification, the U.S. stopped exporting dairy products to Russia. Then in 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, prompting trade sanctions from the U.S., the E.U., and other countries as they boycott Russian products. Russia responded with counter-sanctions that barred a number of countries’ imports into Russia, including dairy products. Once the E.U.’s largest dairy export market, receiving a third of its cheese exports and a quarter of its butterfat shipments, Russian dairy imports plummeted; in 2013, Russia imported 466,000 metric tons of cheese and curd, nearly half its cheese consumption, and in 2014 that had dropped to 349,000 and then 216,000 metric tons in 2015 as the E.U. dried up as a source for cheese (Ibid).

The annexation of Crimea by Russia caused further conflict when they turned their eyes to Ukraine. The Ukraine conflict has still not come to a conclusion. Source: The Liberty Web http://eng.the-liberty.com/2014/5308/

The embargo represented an opportunity for Russian dairy producers, and in 2015 new local brands entered the market. However, these brands proved unsuccessful with consumers for two possible reasons. First, Danone is Russia’s leading producers of traditional dairy products, including tvorog, and of overall dairy products in the country. Danone is, ironically, a France-based company that first entered Russia in 1992 and was the first foreign company to invest in the Russian economy at a time of democratic transition and high volatility. In 2010 Danone acquired Russian dairy giant Unimilk, and in 2016 they were the category leader, holding 25% value share of drinking milk products, 19% value-share in yogurt and sour milk products, and a 21% value-share of other dairy, which includes chilled snacks, condensed milk, cream, fromage frais, and quark (Archwamety, n.d.).

Second, there is a pervasive, and illegal, use of palm oil in dairy products, particularly cheese. Up to 50% of dairy products in Russia have been adulterated with palm oil (Sgarro, 2015). Palm oil cheese is part of a long history of counterfeit foods in Russia. Soviet era shortages resulted in local producers taking advantage of loopholes to political constraints and consumers’ habituation to counterfeit products and repackaged counterfeit products as legitimate. Today, consumers enter grocery stores with a heavy dose of skepticism. Distrustful of products and brands, consumers only buy products if they know where they come from or friends and family have recommended them (Ibid). The use of palm oil is illegal, and if Russian law enforcement detects dairy processors of using palm oil in violation of technical and labeling regulations, the processor is charged a fine. However, these fines are small and typically do not motivate processors to stop the illegal practices (Archwamety, n.d.). Local cheese makers have tried to respond to “fake” cheese; between January and April 2015, production rose 29.5% from the same period in 2014, but milk production decreased 0.5%. However, the devaluation of the ruble from the import ban caused food price inflation, hurting local cheese makers (Sgarro, 2015).   

The sanctions war has resulted in hundreds of tons of smuggled food products, particularly dairy products, being seized and steamrolled or incinerated by Russian authorities. In one raid in 2015, Russian authorities seized 470 tons of cheese (Angerer, 2018). The average Russian consumer has been the hardest hit in the sanction war. Food prices have skyrocketed, and product availability has dried up. However, almost five years into sanctions and farmers are rejoicing. The government began investing more in their agricultural sector, making it the fastest growing sector in the Russian economy. The dairy industry has expanded rapidly, rushing to fill domestic demand for aged cheeses. Then in July 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the embargo on food products would continue to the end of 2019. While the ongoing sanctions appear to allow the Russian dairy sector to grow, strengthen, and develop their own brand, how much has this actually benefitted consumers? Russia has a history of unique, healthy dairy products, but these products will never be recognized internationally if Russia stays closed off. Probably more troubling still, Russian consumers will not be able to afford the new dairy products produced from the sanctions war due to inflation. It will be interesting to see what happens to the Russian dairy industry in the next decade. With the dismantling of sanctions, will Russian aged cheeses become internationally recognized? Will renewal of E.U. imports hurt the progress made by Russian dairy farmers? We will have to wait and see.

Russian authorities destroy hundreds of tons of banned Western foods, especially cheese. Source: NY Times https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/07/world/europe/russia-destroys-piles-of-banned-western-food.html.

Want to eat like a Russian? Just add sour cream! You can easily make your own. Technically this is the cheating version, but you are still “souring” cream. Put a cup of heavy cream into a jar (mason jar works best) and add a teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice. Shake well. Take the top off the jar and securely place a paper towel or cheesecloth over the top. Let sit for 24 hours. The cream should thicken and have a more sour taste. However, it will not look as thick as the sour cream you buy in the grocery store. Put the top back on the jar and store in the refrigerator. Consume it as a condiment, side dish, or sauce with everything! Soups, dumplings, sandwiches, desserts, etc.

Works Cited

Angerer, C. (2018, Mar 4). Putin’s sanctions war created a Russian cheese industry overnight. NBCNews. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/putin-s-sanctions-war-created-russian-cheese-industry-overnight-n847101.

Archwamety, R. (n.d.). Global politics, local economy shape Russia’s Dairy trends. Cheese Market News.Retrieved from http://www.cheesemarketnews.com/articlearch/passport/russia.html.

Krieger, E. (2017, Oct. 11). Sorting out the countless yogurt options, from Greek to Bulgarian. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/ct-healthy-yogurt-options-20171011-story.html.

Sgarro, V. (2015, Jul 9). Russians sniff out real cheese as imported dairy ban lingers. National Geographic. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/people-and-culture/food/the-plate/2015/07/09/despite-dairy-ban-some-russians-sniff-out-real-gouda-and-gorgonzola/.

Sorokina, A. (2018, May 24). Everything you wanted to know about Russian dairy products. Russia Beyond. Retrieved from https://www.rbth.com/russian-kitchen/328347-russian-dairy-products.

Immortal Milk: From Industrious Herders to Industrial Foods

If you are a typical consumer, you probably have bought processed or pre-prepared foods and noticed in the ingredients list “milk powder,” “powdered milk,” or “dried milk.” While milk powder would appear to be a product of our modern industrial food system, its history goes much further back. In the Near East, archeologists have found petrified chunks of dried buttermilk, or “milk cakes.” They believe ancient Near Easterners made milk cakes by placing churned sour milk in a high place, possibly a rooftop (Valenze, 2011, 30). European travelers during the thirteenth century, described how the nomadic Mongols heavily relied on milk products in their diets and would boil and dry mares milk and store the resulting dried curds in bags for winter consumption. The dried curds could then be mixed in water to make a weak drink (Ibid, 39). Today, the decedents of the Mongols, herders in Mongolia, continue to make similar dried dairy products. Three types of dried cheeses, byaslag, eezgii, and aaruul, are made using yogurt rather than culture and rennet and are either eaten fresh or sliced and dried (Kaplonski, 488). By drying milk and other dairy products, these ancient cultures developed a way of effectively immortalizing milk and her products. For ancient peoples in the Near East, Mongolia, and other nomadic herding populations, being able to extend the life of milk was essential to survival and a healthy diet.

Woman Mongolian Herder. Source: Women's News Network

Although powdered milk (in one form or another) has been around for thousands of years, commercial powdered milk production did not start until the nineteenth century. Some scholars attribute the invention of dried milk to Russian chemist M. Dirchoff in 1832. However, it was not until 1855, when T. S. Grimwade patented a dried milk procedure (Dried milk production, n.d.) that powdered milk entered the English commodity market (Valenze, 187). Powdered milk quickly became a huge market commodity, used in baby food as well as chocolate and other confectionaries.  

Today powdered milk can be made in three ways. The first and most common way is by spray drying. Nonfat skim milk, whole milk, buttermilk, or whey is concentrated to about 50 percent milk solids and then sprayed into a heated chamber where the water almost instantly evaporates, leaving fine particles of powdered milk solids behind. The second method is drum drying, whereby milk is applied as a thin film to the surface of a heated drum, and the dried milk solids are then scraped off. This method creates a cooked, caramelized flavor in the final product. The final and least used method is freeze drying (Dried milk production, n.d.).

The uses for powdered milk have not changed much since the nineteenth century. It is mainly used in infant formula, confectionaries (i.e. chocolates and caramel candy), baked goods, Indian sweets, and wherever liquid milk is not an option (i.e. warehouses, fallout shelters, hiking, etc.) Powdered milk is not only valued for its long shelf life, but also it reduces transport and storage costs as it does not require refrigeration, it takes up less space, and it is lighter than liquid milk (Dried milk production, n.d.). 

However, dried milk has its critics. In addition to the nutrient loss in the drying process, one of the many uses for powdered milk has been in international food aid. After World War II, American, and later European, dairy farmers experienced a milk glut. Overproduction resulted in national governments seeking markets in other countries, specifically developing countries. Under the banner of development aid, the U.S. and other European countries dumped their powdered milk, which is much cheaper to export, onto the world market. Prices plummeted, and developing countries’ dairy sectors were unable to compete with the cheap powdered milk inundating local markets (Valenze, 271). One result of this onslaught of powdered milk was India’s Operation Flood. Initiated by the Government of India in 1970, the program was meant to increase India’s domestic production and consumption of dairy products to better compete with the world market (Ibid, 274-75). The result was the promotion of the cooperative system and a widening of the gap between the poor and middle- upper-classes.

Skimmed Milk Powder. Source: Nairaland Forum 

While powdered milk is an efficient, cost-effective way to store milk for long periods of time, cheese powder is valued for its flavor enhancing powers. Yes, the yellow powder used in your mac and cheese is actually cheese, or at least part of it. Industrial production of spray-dried cheese products started shortly after Kraft’s development of processed cheese in 1916. Processed cheese was praised for its long shelf life, cleanliness, consistency, and digestibility. Cheese powder took all those attributes a step further. Spray drying of cheese began being used extensively during World War II. The U.S. Army developed dehydrated cheese products, including cheese powders and dried grated cheese, as a means for preserving cheese under any circumstance, and on the home front products like packaged macaroni and cheese became staples (Dylan-Robbins & Buchanan, 2013).

The Use of Cheese Powder in New Products. Source: Prepared Foods

In 1951, a Dutch processed food company, Lactosan, began producing what we would recognize as modern cheese powder, and since then an array of cheese products have been developed. However, since the 1960s cheese powders have also been a means of concentrating flavor. Enzyme-modified cheese (EMC) was developed in the 1960s. The flavors are so concentrated, that EMC packs five to 20 times more of a punch than natural cheese (ibid). Throughout the 20^thcentury, powders with a mix of cheese, EMC, whey, and other dairy biproducts have become increasingly common and help drive our processed, convenience food culture. 

With all its uses in industrial, processed foods, I bet you didn’t think you could make your own powdered milk or cheese powder. Guess what, you can! You don’t need a spray dryer or a drum dryer. You just need time. There are two ways you can make your own powdered milk. The first way is by using a dehydrator. Line the trays of a dehydrator with fruit roll and pour one cup of milk in each tray. Place in the dehydrator at 130-135°F, and then wait for at least 12 hours.

The second method involves setting your oven at a very low heat (140-160°F). After cooking the milk in a double boiler until it's creamy (i.e. you have made evaporated milk), pour the milk into a large pan with sides. Set in the low heated oven with the door cracked for approximately 12 hours. You will need to check it to make sure the milk does not burn. You can find much more detailed instructions for making your own powdered milk here. Unfortunately, I am a grad student and do not have twelve hours to spare, so I was not able to try this out myself. If you do though, let me know how it goes!

Powdered milk, and its cousin cheese powder, is the result of the need to extend the shelf life and portability of a highly perishable, nutritious product. However, it has turned into an important part of our industrial food system as a way to manage surpluses and enhance flavor. Thus, despite its long history, powdered milk gets overlooked as just another product of industrialization rather than industriousness.

Cheese South of the Border

When the Old World and New World collided in the 15^thcentury, the conquistadors came to Central and South America with conquest, fame, and riches on their mind. However, after bringing disease and devastation to the indigenous population, the Europeans found themselves in a relatable situation: homesickness. In Alfred Crosby’s groundbreaking tome, The Columbian Exchange(1972), Crosby offered a new perspective on the first contact between Europeans and the New World, one that focused on the exchange of foods and agricultural goods between the Old and New World. While the Europeans brought crops like tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, peanuts, bananas, coffee, and cacao back to the Old World, changing the foodways and culture, they also attempted to reproduce their own foodways in the New World. In particular, olive oil, wine, wheat bread, and cheese. The first colonizers in the Americas, the Spaniards and Portuguese, brought wheat seeds, cuttings of grape vines, olive tree rootstock, and lots of cows. Through trial and error, the Europeans eventually found firm footings for these staple crops and animals.

Cheese is a purely European introduction in Latin America. There were no large, domesticated animals in Latin America, except alpacas, which were purely used as pack animals. The indigenous populations in Latin America also were lactose intolerant, with adults losing their ability to digest lactose. Despite dairy being an introduced product to the Americas, it quickly became a cultural staple. While European settlers in the United States and Canada sought to replicate European cheeses precisely, taking their names and following their techniques, Latin Americans took inspiration from European cheeses and made them their own, evolving them for the climate and developing new flavors.

The plethora of cheeses throughout Central and South American countries is reflective of the country of origin of its colonizers, with a breath and diversity only matched by that of European countries. In Mexico, cheesemaking arrived with Spanish settlers. The first record of cheese dates from 1585 when a rancher named Diego Montemayor started producing a Manchego-style cheese (Yescas, 2016, 468). While slow to spread past the Spanish population, cheese eventually became a staple part of the cuisine, featured in traditional dishes like chile rellenos, quesadillas, frijoles, or used to thicken and flavor sauces or to garnish refried beans. Mexican cheeses are usually fresh and too numerous to name due to the regional, small scale on which they are produced. However, some of the most popular and interesting cheeses include Queso Qaxaca, Queso Cotija, and Chihuahua. 

Queso Qaxaca is a pulled curd cheese, similar to mozzarella, and originally from the town of Etla in the southern state of Oaxaca. Traditionally, cheesemakers pull the cheese into long strains that are then wound together in a ball, resulting in a cheese that looks like a ball of yarn (Yescas, 467). Queso Cotija is one of Mexico’s few aged cheeses. Dry, salty, and granular in texture, the cheese comes from the states of Jalisco and Michoac where it is made during the rainy season in the mountains and then brought down to the town to age. Similar to the Protected Designation of Origin (POD) status of many European cheeses, in 2005 the Mexican Government granted the Cotija a Collective Trademark, which requires that the cheese be produced only in these two states, each wheel weigh 49 pounds, be salted with Colima salt, and be aged for at least two months. However, despite the Collective Trademark, there are copies of the cheese marketed as Cotija from other parts of the country (Ibid). Chihuahua, named after the Mexican state from which it originates, stands out from other Mexican cheese as the techniques for making the cheese comes from Mennonite farmers rather than the Spanish (Sung, 2017). Made by the descendants of Swiss Anabaptists, who settled in the state during the 16^th century, the cheese resembles a mild cheddar in taste and texture.

Queso Qaxaca. Source: Cremeria Romero

Argentina’s cheese culture has a heavy Italian influence, with cheese bearing diminutions of the names of Italian cheeses. Reggianito, or “Little Reggiano,” is the Argentine interpretation of Parmigiano Reggiano. Coming in smaller wheels and aged for a shorter period of time than Parmigiano, the cheese is the most exported cheese in Argentina, creating controversy as many foreign consumers mistake it for its Italian counterpart. The mix up is one of the many reasons Parmigiano Reggiano received PDO status. Another diminutive, Provoleta, is the Argentine spin on Italian Provolone. The cheese is similar in taste and texture to the original, but unlike the Italian provolone, Argentinians consume Provoleta by grilling it in small disks and pairing it with grilled meats and spicy sauces. Finally, Argentina’s answer to Italy’s sheep’s milk pecorino is Sardo, a cow’s milk cheese with a slightly salty taste and semi-hard texture (Ditaranto, 2014). 

In Brazil, cheese can be found at every meal, including dessert, and reflects the depth and variety of textures, tastes, and immigrant influences within the country. Two of the most popular cheeses, Catupiry and Queijo Minas, come from Minas Gerais, the Brazilian state with a large Italian immigrant population. Catupiry is a brand of cheese that falls under the category requeijão, a ricotta-like cheese with a flavor similar to Brie or Camembert. An Italian immigrant named Mario Silvestrini developed the cheese in 1911. Queijo Minas, named after Minas Gerais, has a texture similar to buffalo mozzarella and holds particularly great weight in Brazilan culture. In May 2008, the cheese was declared part of “Brazilian Immaterial Cultural Heritage,” and the cheese can be traced back to the Portuguese region of Serra de Estrella. Finally, Queijjo Coalho is a rubbery curd cheese, often prepackaged on skewers to be roasted. The cheese does not melt but rather browns and is a beach snack staple (Ditaranto, 2014). 

Queijo Coalho grilled on skewers. Source: UM Como

Numerous other countries in Latin America also produce a variety of distinctive cheeses that are a central part of their cuisine, including Venezuela, Uruguay, and Honduras. However, for the purpose of this post, I am focusing on our closest southern neighbor, Mexico. In recent years, Mexican cheesemakers have suffered from three main barriers. First, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) resulted in the Mexican dairy market being flooded by cheap dairy products from the U. S, including powdered milk and cheese. In 2008, Mexican dairy farmers took to the streets protesting the elimination of trade barriers that put their products in competition with U.S. subsidized dairy (Freidberg, 2009, 230-231). In addition to locking horns with the U.S. over the trade of dairy products, Mexico and Spain spar over Manchego. As a former Spanish colony, Mexican cheesemakers make a cow’s milk version of the Spanish staple sheep’s milk cheese. Spain claims that Manchego’s PDO status makes it illegal for Mexican cheesemakers to call their cheese Manchego (Agren & Jones, 2018). On the consumer side, industrial cheese has increasingly entered the market, but these cheeses tend to be adulterated and carry fillers that negatively impact their quality and artificially raise their weight. 

There were a number of cheeses I wanted to try making, but, due to lack of time, resources, and skill, I decided to tackle the most widespread, well-known, and versatile cheese in Mexico: Queso Fresco. Literally translated “fresh cheese,” Queso Fresco has a mild, slightly salty flavor and can be cut, crumbled, or melted on a variety of dishes. Making this cheese ended up being an adventure: I did not have quite the right culture (a mix of Mesophilic and Thermophilic rather than the called for Mesophilic) and my thermometer broke and said the ambient temperature was 90 degrees. I used the New England Cheesemaking recipe for Queso Fresco, which calls for keeping the milk at around 90 degrees constantly. After adding the culture and then the rennet, I tried to cut the curd to just over half an inch. I ended up cutting it too small, which causes the cheese to be drier. 

Draining curds in butter muslim

The cut curds are gradually heated again and stirred to induce the release of whey. Once the desired firmness is achieved, the curds are drained, salted, and then pressed. I ended up separating the curds into two cheeses, one like a traditional Queso Fresco and the other to be rubbed with salt and let to sit out and dry. 

 

My Queso Fresco with a salt rub

I’m excited to try more Latin American cheeses. The innovation and creativity displayed by Latin American cheesemakers produces delicious cheeses to be eaten alone or used as an ingredient. European colonization may have introduced cheese to Latin America, but Latin America made cheese its own.

Works Cited

Agren, D. & Jones, S. (2018 Jan 15). Cursed are the cheesemakers: Spain and Mexico locked in manchego dispute. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/15/spain-mexico-trade-deal-manchego-cheese-dispute.

Ditaranto, J. (2014a Nov 4). Latin American cheese: Brazil. The World of Cheese Culture. Retrieved from https://culturecheesemag.com/blog/latin-american-cheese-brazil.

------. (2014b Nov 11). Latin American cheese: Argentina. The World of Cheese Culture. Retrieved from https://culturecheesemag.com/blog/latin-american-cheese-argentina.

Sung, E. (2017 Jan 31). A guide to buying Mexican cheeses. Epicurious. Retrieved from https://www.epicurious.com/holidays-events/get-to-know-your-basic-mexican-cheeses-article.

Yescas, C. (2016). “Mexican Cheeses.” By Donnelly, C., The Oxford Companion to Cheese. New York City: Oxford University Press.

Spreading the Word About Butter!

I have a fascination with all things petrified. Fossilized dinosaurs, mammoths, mummies in ancient Egypt, Bog Bodies in Northern Europe, Otzi frozen in the Alps, the bodies in Pompeii, I could go on forever! These petrified remains of people, animals, and plants are not only biologically cool, but they are also a snapshot in time. A paused movie with the characters suspended in their last actions. But of all these petrified remains, one of my favorites is bog butter. Between the Iron Age and medieval times, ancient Celtic people would bury butter in the local bogs. The bogs, made of peat and with a cool, low-oxygen, high acid environment, served as a source of natural refrigeration. Like a refrigerator, archeologists believe the Celtics hid their butter in bogs as either a form of preservation or as religious offerings. Butter was a valuable commodity at the time both in terms of nourishment and as a form of exchange, so it made sense to save butter for hard times and to hide it from thieves (Daley, 2016).

Bog Butter at the Cork Butter Museum a must see for butter and food enthusiasts alike, Cork, Ireland. Photo by Rachel Snyder

Today the butter we buy in stores tastes very different from these preserved lumps found in bogs (bog butter would have been very pungent like an aged cheese). However, little has changed in how butter is made and how humans consume and place cultural meaning to the yellow spread.

Butter is made from heavy cream from the milk of ruminants (i.e. cows, goats, sheep, yak, buffalo, etc.). Heavy cream is able to become butter because it is an emulsion. An emulsion is when one substance is suspended in another substance in tiny globules. These two substances never mix. The emulsion that makes up heavy cream is water with globules of fat suspended and surrounded by a membrane of phospholipids and proteins. In the butter making process, these globules are slammed against each other, causing them to stick together until they form a lump of butter. The remaining liquid is the buttermilk. The buttermilk sold in grocery stores is different from this residual liquid, as it is only milk that has been soured from the addition of an acid (Oklahoma Cooperative Extension, n.d.).

The emulsion in milk vs butter. Source: https://scienceandfooducla.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/homemade-butter/

While there is a debate as to whether cheese came before butter, anthropologists largely agree that butter production started in the Neolithic when the first Stone Age ancestors succeeded in domesticating ruminants. The theory is that a prehistoric shepherd accidently discovered butter when, upon placing butter in a sack made from animal skin and traversing over a bumpy route for hours, the rhythmic movement of his trek generated solid lumps in an opaque liquid (Khosrova, 2017, 267). The taste of these lumps must have appealed to the theoretical prehistoric shepherd, as butter making spread throughout the Middle East, Indus Valley, Africa and eventually to Europe. 

Since that fateful shepherd, butter has taken on special culinary and cultural significance. The first written evidence of butter comes from 4,500-year-old limestone tablets detailing the butter-making process. Ancient Sumerians offered butter to the fertility goddess Inanna, protector of the seasons and harvest. Indian Hindus have made offerings of ghee, clarified butter or butter oil, to Lord Krishna for over 3,000 years. Ancient Romans associated butter with barbarism, but they, along with Ancient Egyptians and Greeks, also used it medicinally and cosmetically, applying it to their hair and skin (Jankowski, 2017). In addition to bog butter, Scandinavian and other Northern European peasants used butter as a form of tender to pay their taxes to the lord. 

Butter came to the United States with European colonists, who brought their dairy cows with them. Soon after their arrival, the colonists replicated butter’s cultural importance in their new home. The first student protests in the U.S. were over butter. Harvard University’s Great Butter Rebellion of 1766 started in response to students being served rancid butter in the dining hall (Jankowski, 2017). While butter’s long standing rivalry with margarine and the recent heath fads denouncing fats in general and butter in particular have resulted in decreased consumption of butter in the U.S. and Europe, it still remains an essential part of the culture and cuisine of people around the world.

Harvard University's Great Butter Rebellion of 1766 occurred after the students, suffering from the abominable dining hall food, finally had enough when they were served rancid butter. Source:https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/04/harvards-long-ago-student-risings/.

Those cultures and butter’s manifestations within them are more diverse than you would think. In the U.S. we associate butter with European culture. We conjure images of angelic milkmaids, pastoral vistas of docile cows grazing, and the wholesome combination of bread and butter, simultaneously symbolizing abundance, purity, and humility. Thus, we tend to associate butter with Europe and her colonies. However, butter production started in the Middle East and Africa, and it never left. 

Despite our association of cows with butter, the first butter would have probably come from goats, sheep, or camel milk, and in many countries in Africa camel milk is still the main source of dairy products. Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mauritania-camels/camel-milk-put-it-on-your-face-as-well-as-drink-it-idUSL0372229420070403.

Africa’s dairy countries run from just south of the Sahara east to the Horn of Africa (i.e. Ethiopia, Uganda, Somalia, and Kenya), down the eastern highlands and into the south (Abdelgadir el al, 1998, 2). Due to the warmer climate, butter in Africa is usually made from soured or fermented milk, and, to increase its shelf life, it is typically cooked and churned into a butter oil or ghee. In the Sahara, for Tuareg nomads of the Ahaggar (Algerian Sahara) milk remains a staple food and butter is made from camel milk. To increase its shelf life, the butter is made into a strained butter oil similar to ghee (Khosrova, 28). In Uganda, the cattle corridor which, stretches from the Southwest to the Northeast, is home to the cattle-herding Bantu and Nilotic who still practice traditional ghee production (Wasswa el at, 2017, 11759). Based on archaeological evidence, Sudan’s cattle culture stretches back at least 5,000 years, compared to only 4,000 years north of the country in Nubia and southern Egypt. Archaeologists have found skulls of cattle ceremonially placed in human graves, and, among the Jebel Moya in central Sudan, people had burial grounds for their cattle. Later civilizations in the area are characterized by their rock drawings and pottery featuring cattle and vessels filled with milk. The classical Greek writer Strabo (7 BC) even mentioned the people of the area, Meroites (called Ethiopians by classic writers), as eating cheese and butter (Abdelgadir, 1). Today, milk and milk products remain an essential part of the diet and lifestyle of nomadic tribes throughout the country. 

The African Continent. Source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Africa-Map-Maps-of-World-2014_fig1_319459630.

My interest in butter in Africa sprung from the discovery of smen, Moroccan fermented butter. While Morocco is not apart of the main dairy cultures in Africa, smen serves a significant cultural role in Moroccan cuisine. Smen, similar to ghee in other parts of Africa and India, is fermented as a means to increase butter’s shelf life (and flavor). The acidity that forms from fermentation protects the butter from bad bacteria, but it also gives the butter a funky, cheesy aroma. The butter is used in cooking, especially couscous, spread on bread, and even put in coffee. Being energy dense and filling, it is also used extensively during Ramadan. Smen has been described as being like a fine wine that gets better with age, so the longer smen ages the more expensive and the smoother the texture. A legend attached to smen is that Berber tribesmen would bury a clay jar of smen on the day of their daughter’s birth and unearth it to use to prepare her wedding day feast (Schmidt, 2014).

Like most products that were once produced at home or sourced locally, smen is now mass produced and available in grocery stores. Source: https://www.zamourispices.com/smen-p/smen.htm.

When I asked my friend Mouna from Morocco about smen, her first response was that it “smells bad” and her grandmother likes it. Smen is obviously an acquired taste, one that the younger generation is not keen on. However, fascinated, I decided to make my own smen. First I made butter by taking heavy cream and agitating it. I tried two methods, the jar and the stand mixer. While the jar method is great for getting kids to expend some of their energy, the mixer is much faster and a lot less arm work. If you have some unsalted butter on hand, you can just use that as well. After making the butter, make oregano tea (discarding the dried oregano leaves), and once that cools, message the tea and salt into the butter. Then place in an airtight jar and store in a cool space. You can always bury you jar or clay pot in the ground if you are feeling y, but a cupboard will do fine. Now let it sit for at least a month. The longer it sits, the funkier the favor. Check back to see how my smen turns out. 

WWII propaganda promoting the consumption of dairy products. Source: https://www.skagitcounty.net/Departments/HistoricalSociety/ww2ads/26.htm.

During World War II, a common mantra was that the U.S. would win the war with “bombs and butter,” signifying the importance of the yellow spread in American and European culture and identity. However, the culture of butter and dairy goes beyond the confines of Europe and the dominance of the cow. Even in places with no PDO cheeses or large herds of black and white Holsteins or doe-eyed Jerseys, dairy is still a staple of the diet and a defining part of the history and culture. Today these dairy products are even more important to the nutrition of the region. According to the Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Shenggen Fan, the promotion of dairy and other livestock products in famine-prone African nations like Ethiopia is essential to tackling issues of malnutrition (2019). Furthermore, as the main producers of these products, promoting their production also serves as a means to increase the economic and social status of women in these countries. Next time you slather butter on your morning toast, remember that you are part of a larger, more extensive, and older culture of people who love butter.  

Make Your Own Smen: https://www.thespruceeats.com/smen-moroccan-preserved-butter-with-thyme-2394939

Works Cited

Abdelgadir, W. S., Ahmed, T. K., & Dirar, H. A. (1998). The traditional fermented milk products of the Sudan. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 44, 1-13

Daley, J. (2016 Jun 13). A brief history of bog butter. Smithsonian.Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-brief-history-of-bog-butter-180959384/.

Fan, S. (2019 Jan 25). Healthy diets and sustainable food systems for all: A differentiated approach for animal-sources foods (ASFs). IFPRI Blog. Retrieved from https://www.ifpri.org/blog/healthy-diets-and-sustainable-food-systems-all-differentiated-approach-animal-sourced-foods.

Jankowski, N. (2017 Feb 24). Spread the word: Butter has an epic backstory. NPR The Salt. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/02/24/515422661/spread-the-word-butter-has-an-epic-backstory.

Khosrova, E. (2017). Butter: A Rich History. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books.

Oklahoma Cooperative Extension. (n.d.). The chemistry of butter. Ag in the Classroom. Retrieved from http://aitc.okstate.edu/lessons/dairy/butter.pdf.

Schmidt, A. (2014 Oct 9). Smen is Morocco’s funky fermented butter that lasts for years. NPR The Salt. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/10/09/353510171/smen-is-moroccos-funky-fermented-butter-that-lasts-for-years.

Wasswa, J., Sempiira, E. J., Mugisa, D. J., Muyanja, C., & Kisaalita, W. S. (2017). Quality assessment of butter produced using traditional and mechanized churning methods. African Journal of Food, Agricultire, Nutrition and Development, 17(1): 11757-11770.

A Tale of Two Cheeses: Monasticism and Its Contribution to Europe’s Great Cheeses

The monks left. So begins the tale of two cheeses, Époisses and Port Salut. Combined, these cheeses tell the true story behind European cheesemaking. While these cheeses are different in terms of taste and production, their history and evolution reveal the forces that have created some of the world’s most beloved and iconic cheeses as well as the issues and debates that characterize European cheesemaking today. Filled with religious fervor, peasant-master relationships, conspiracy and violence, alcohol, terrior, and the implications of mass production, the stories of Port Salut and Époisses provide a lens from which to view European cheeses that generate questions of production, labor, and consumption.

Cheesemaking and the Monastery

            Époisses and Port Salut are both apart a long tradition of monastic cheesemaking. In response to the incursion of Frankish tribes and Irish monastic missionaries compromising the power of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Gregory I endorsed the establishment of Benedictine monasteries. The original intent of the Benedictine Order was a dedication to education and learning, public service, social responsibility, and self-sufficiency (Kindstedt, 2012, 123). Monastic cheesemaking goes back to at least the ninth century. A compilation of monastic managerial directives called The Customs of Corbie describes how the monks made cheese from its own flock of sheep as well as received cheese in the form of tithes (tribute) through manors and villas under their administration, known as the manorial system (Ibid, 131). Additionally, a ninth century biography of Charlemagne (Charles the Great), describes Charlemagne’s affinity for a cheese from the monastery of Saint Gall. According to the biographer, Charlemagne liked the cheese so much he asked for two cart loads to be sent to him every year (Ibid., 132). 

Source: Making White Cheese During the Middle Ages (From Tacuinum Sanitatis (ÖNB Codex Vindobonensis, series nova 2644), c. 1370-1400)

            The cheeses made by the monks or the peasants paying them tithes were soft-ripen cheeses, either bloomy rind or washed rind cheeses. These cheeses would be made from pooled milk, resulting in a higher acid level. The resulting curds were higher in moisture and, after pressing, were soaked in a brine bath. The defining part of these cheeses was the curing process. An orange mold would be cultivated on the outside of the cheeses through periodic washings in either a weak brine or alcohol, usually also made by the monks (Ditaranto, 2014). Each monastery had its own unique recipe that reflected, among other factors, the bacterial cultures of the area, the animals raised, the moisture and acidity levels, the washing solution (alcohol or otherwise), the temperature and humidity during storage, and the length of time the cheeses aged. 

The History of Epoisses 

Époisses is one of the softer cheeses developed in monasteries. Some sources date its production back to the seventeenth century, while others place it in the sixteenth century. Regardless of its first production date, we do know production started at L’Abbaye de Citeaux where the Cistercian monks made the cheese for almost two hundred years (Roman, 2015). 

And then the monks left…

The records do not say why or exactly when the monks left, but before they went they made sure to teach the local peasants how to produce Epoisses. The cheese grew in popularity throughout France. Reportedly, it was Napoleon’s favorite, and France’s most famous gourmands, the politician, philosopher, and all-round foodie Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826) crowned Epoisses “the king of cheese” (Ibid). 

Epoisses with its signature orange rind and pudding-like texture. Source: Murray's Cheese

However, this cheese almost disappeared from the French cheeseboard. The method for production was traditionally orally passed down from mother to daughter. However, during both World Wars, with men off at war women had to take care of all aspects of running the farm, leaving very little time for cheesemaking (Risoud, 2016, 254). The cheese might have been lost forever if it was not for two local farmers, Robert and Simone Berthaut, who obtained the recipe from a few local old women who still remembered how to make the cheese (Roman, 2015). In 1956 they started producing the cheese again. By 1991 the cheese received AOC status, and in 1996 it received PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) protection. Since 2015, 1,400 tons of Epoisses are produced annually (Risoud, 254).

A defining feature of Époisses’s production is the use of marc de Bourgogne, a brandy produced locally in Burgundy, to wash the rind while the cheese ages (Roman, 2015). The process reflects the close ties between the production of alcoholic beverages, like beer, wine, mead, and cider, with monasteries. The Cistercian monks who started the recipe would have most likely made their own brandy or wine and used it to wash the outside of the cheese. 

            Within the cheese world, AOC and PDO production has become a contentious subject. France claims it preserves cultural heritage and economically supports small producers. However, countries that received large numbers of European immigrants, such as the United States, claim these cheeses are part of the cultural heritage of the immigrants that settled in their country, as they brought the knowledge of the methods of production with them and then replicated them (Rowan, 2018). 

The History of Port Salut

             And the monks left…

So begins the story of another monastic cheese. Port Salut is a relatively new cheese in comparison to other monastic cheeses, but its history is still illustrative of the forces behind the production of most European cheeses. In the late eighteenth century, a monastery of Trappist monks fled France due to the French Revolution that resulted in France’s Catholic monarchy being disposed. They found refuge in the Alps where they learned how to make Gruyere cheese (Blume, 2011). 

Upon returning to France in 1815, the monks set up a new monastery in Entrammes, called Notre Dame du Port du Salut (Ibid). The monks started raising cows and making a washed rind cheese that was a softer version of Gruyere. In 1873 they began distributing “Port du Salut” in Paris (Hillerbrand, 2013). The cheese’s popularity spread out of France. The recipe traveled across Europe to Eastern Europe as well as across the Atlantic to North America (Ditaranto, 2014). The abbey continued to produce the cheese until 1959 when the monks of Notre Dame du Port du Salut sold all rights to making the cheese to a large dairy corporation, the Société Anonyme des Fermiers Réunis (SAFR) (or the limited corporate partnership of united farmers) (Blume, 2011). 

Port Salut's signature orange washed rind has been replaced in recent years with a cloth rind. Source: Cooks Info

Due to the cheese’s popularity, the monks trademarked the name “Port Salut” at the end of the 19^thcentury. Imitators started going by the name St. Paulin (Blume, 2011). Despite the trademark, some small farmhouse producers still make cheeses labeled with the name Port du Salut or Port Salut. There are also British and Canadian Port Saluts and a Danish Port Salut. Mass production has taken its toll on Port Salut; the cheese has lost its washed rind, punchy aroma, and tangy flavor (Blume, 2011). Thus, unlike Epoisses where popularity generated protection of heritage and quality, popularity has led Port Salut to fall in quality and shirk aspects of its original production.

Two cheeses, both started in the monastery, yet they end on either side of the spectrum of cheese production today. One has retained its heritage and quality though at the expense of placing its production under regulatory control and distribution. The other has managed to expand its production, but along the way it lost touch with its origins. The monks may have left the cheese room for both of these cheeses, but, despite the changes these cheeses have weathered, they continue the legacy of these early cheesemakers.

Epilogue

            The story of monastic cheese does not end here. Monasteries around the world still produce cheese as a means of supporting themselves. Examples include Our Lady of the Holy Angels in Crozet, VA., Abbey of St. Benoit du Luc in Quebec, and in Bangalore, India at the monastery of Benedictine monks of the Vallombrosian Order. Inspired by the monastic history of cheese, I decided to make my own cheese in the same style of a monastic cheese. When I started my graduate degree at Chatham University, I lived in Orchard Hall, the residence hall on their Eden Hall campus dedicated to the Falk School of Sustainability. The campus felt so isolated from Pittsburgh, it became a joke among residents that we lived in a monastery. My goal: to create a monastic style cheese reflecting the terriorof Eden Hall. Check back later to see what I come up with.   

Blume, a. (2011 Oct. 4). Popular French cheese isn’t what it once was. Evansville Courier & Press.Accessed from http://archive.courierpress.com/features/popular-french-cheese-isnt-what-it-once-was-ep-445063131-324685711.html/.

Ditaranto, J. (2014 Sept 20). Cheese devotees: All about monastic cheeses. Culture: The World of Cheese. Accessed from https://culturecheesemag.com/cheese-bites/cheese-devotees-monastic-cheeses.

Hillerbrand, M. (2013 Mar 1). Homemade Port Salut cheese. Culture: The World of Cheese. Accessed from https://culturecheesemag.com/diy/homemade-port-salut-cheese.

Kindstedt, P. (2012). Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese ad Its Place in Western Civilization. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing.

Risoud, G. (2016). Époisses. By Donnelly, C., The Oxford Companion to Cheese. New York City: Oxford University Press.

Roman, G. (2015 Mar 13). Bon Fromage: Epoisses, the creamy king. Culture: The World of Cheese. Accessed from https://culturecheesemag.com/blog/bon-fromage-epoisses-the-creamy-king.

Rowan, J. The EU doesn’t want your Parmesan cheese. The Food Institute. Accessed from https://foodinstitute.com/blog/eu-doesnt-want-your-parmesan-cheese.