Auntie's Buffalo
Dear Aunt Ruth:
Thanks for your email. I have been thinking of you a lot in India, both because of Uncle Norm and because of your thoughtful interest in so many things that are interesting here. Our driver Lokesh had us for lunch on Monday and he gave us fresh curd (like yogurt) from his Auntie's buffalo. I have been telling him, with much pride, of my Aunt and Uncle's dairy farm when I was a kid. Just now I thought that I forgot to tell him it backed on to the Thames, but that might be just as well, because I am not sure if he knows there is more than one Thames. Buffaloes produce quite high butter fat milk, which they boil before adding culture to make curd. It seems that Indians consume a lot of milk. Much of it in the form of curd, quite a bit of cottage cheese and some sweets as well as liquid milk. Lokesh's favorite sweet is koya barfi, fudge like preparation made from reduced condensed milk. One of my favorites is kulfi, a frozen treat that I had on a stick flavored with cardamom. I have been having dahi for breakfast many mornings with a bit of jam in it and some muesli. Dahi seems to be another name for yogurt. Once on the way home from getting groceries, I went over a speed bump too hard and opened the yogurt a bit so that it leaked in the trunk. Now Dianne and I amuse ourselves by calling that the yogurt opening bump. Packed and aged cheese like cheddar is imported and quite expensive. Process cheese slices are quite reasonable though. I think that farmers in India face many of the same issues as in Canada from farm subsidies in other jurisdictions and globalization, but your nephew who has trouble telling a cow from a buffalo will say no more on that topic!
Love
Rich, Ben and Joel in India
Thanks for your email. I have been thinking of you a lot in India, both because of Uncle Norm and because of your thoughtful interest in so many things that are interesting here. Our driver Lokesh had us for lunch on Monday and he gave us fresh curd (like yogurt) from his Auntie's buffalo. I have been telling him, with much pride, of my Aunt and Uncle's dairy farm when I was a kid. Just now I thought that I forgot to tell him it backed on to the Thames, but that might be just as well, because I am not sure if he knows there is more than one Thames. Buffaloes produce quite high butter fat milk, which they boil before adding culture to make curd. It seems that Indians consume a lot of milk. Much of it in the form of curd, quite a bit of cottage cheese and some sweets as well as liquid milk. Lokesh's favorite sweet is koya barfi, fudge like preparation made from reduced condensed milk. One of my favorites is kulfi, a frozen treat that I had on a stick flavored with cardamom. I have been having dahi for breakfast many mornings with a bit of jam in it and some muesli. Dahi seems to be another name for yogurt. Once on the way home from getting groceries, I went over a speed bump too hard and opened the yogurt a bit so that it leaked in the trunk. Now Dianne and I amuse ourselves by calling that the yogurt opening bump. Packed and aged cheese like cheddar is imported and quite expensive. Process cheese slices are quite reasonable though. I think that farmers in India face many of the same issues as in Canada from farm subsidies in other jurisdictions and globalization, but your nephew who has trouble telling a cow from a buffalo will say no more on that topic!
Love
Rich, Ben and Joel in India
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