Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages by Anne Mendelson (worth $15.99)

Reviewed by Misha.

Clam Chowder prepared by Misha and Sam.

Tasted by Misha and Sam.

It’s a great short history of the peoples of the world’s relationship with milk from the prehistoric nomadic and agrarian cultures to the industrialized present. While Mendelson is certainly critical of the modern day milk industry she is not overbearing but enlightening and encouraging. Mendelson sheds light on lactose intolerance, why we drink the milk of herbivores, and the predominance of soured milk in our culinary pasts.

The book’s greater second half is a collection of practical recipes that use milk annotated with historical/cultural context and vignettes. The recipes span the globe and taste buds. It had me talking about milk and whipping cream in front of friends at our next dinner party. Today my fridge is stocked with locally-farmed un-homogenized, low-pasteurized whole milk, cream, and chocolate milk. Yesterday I had kefir.

The chowder was good and not difficult to make, except for shucking clams, which is extremely difficult. We used half the recommended # of clams, and it was still delicious, though more clam liquor, which is used to boil the potatoes, would have been welcome. For this reason (and possibly a mismeasurement of salt pork), the soup benefited from a sprinkling and crackling of s + p.