[Sca-cooks] Favorite Healthy period dishes, recent study on vitamin absorption

[Anne-Marie Rousseau]

Hi from Anne-Marie, with science geek hat on....

Its true that the fat globules in goats milk are smaller than the ones
in cows milk, making it easier for some people to digest. But lactose is
lactose, regardless of the source. And in fact, goat milk is often
higher in fat than cows milk, which by the time you buy it has been
standardardized to about 4% butterfat (point of reference...my Nubians
would produce milk at about 18% butterfat, while my saanens were about
12% or more, and the alpines were a mere 8%...) an exception to this
would be Jersey milk, but unless you're getting from a Jersey specialty
dairy... and those smaller fat globules? Means the milk is naturally
homogenized, sure, but that means all that fat is IN the milk, not
having been easily scraped off the top...(I spent MANY Hours separating
the cream from our goats milk with a big ol' tinned metal contraption.
Mmmm. Goats milk ice cream....)

Add to that the fact that most goats milk is either raw (ie much shorter
shelf life, so potential of spoilage) or so over processed its really
nasty :P and I really was wondering where folks thought that goat milk
was healthier.

Now, don't get me wrong. Fresh milk from animals with names I DO believe
is healthier than the stuff from the store (hormones, over processing,
over packaging, etc) but that has nothing to do with the species of the
source.

I also fully accept the idea that the culture youre focusing on will
potentially change your milk source. Cows like big grassey fields and
lots of rain. Goats and sheep like Greece and the Pyranees ;). But I'd
be careful about assuming anything. As I said, given the prevalence of
visual sources like manuscript illos for medieval western Europe, I'd be
very hesitant to say that goats or sheep was the primary milk source for
them.

Lastly, when producing food for large numbers of folks, I'd be hesitant
to use milk that hadn't been brucellosis and DHI tested. The potential
of impact on anyone with immune system problems, or the very old or the
very young is just too scary for me.

Just my observations...
--AM

-----Original Message-----
From: sca-cooks-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:sca-cooks-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of
lilinah at earthlink.net
Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 1:24 AM
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Favorite Healthy period dishes, recent study on
vitamin absorption

Anne-Marie Rousseau wrote:
>What makes you say that sheep milk is healthier than cow milk? Also,
>given the number of manuscript illos that show cows being milked vs the
>number that show sheep being milked (I cant think of any, actually...)
>what led you to believe that non cows milk would be so prevalent?
>
>Intrigued....
>--Anne-Marie, who grew up on goats milk....

Many of us, and i include myself, have certain "prejudices" about 
what sorts of food we cook, i.e., we may try to concentrate on the 
foods of the culture of our persona. My areas of interest and 
preference are around the Mediterranean and into the Middle East, 
although i do cook English and German food for feasts, as well, and 
have those well-known basic sources on Russian and Polish food in my 
library.

I know that in the Mediterranean areas sheep's milk was more common 
than cow's milk - frequently for environmental reasons - both 
geography and weather. The fats in the milk of sheep and goats are 
different from the fats in cow's milk, being more-or-less naturally 
"homogenized" in sheep and goat's milk. Because of this, there's no 
cream that floats to the surface in these milks. Their fats are also 
digested differently by humans and used by our bodies differently 
than cow's milk, and they are less likely to cause the same hazards 
to health as cow's fats are.

I don't have all the exact information to hand at the moment, but i 
can look it up.

The natural sugars are also different and people who have trouble 
digesting lactose in cow's milk can often digest sheep or goat's milk.
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita

who is a real dairy fiend, but less enamored of meats
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