COOKERY LECTURE ON MILK.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 90, 15 April 1912, Page 2

COOKERY LECTURE ON MILK.

“The Story of a Glass of Milk” was the subject dealt with by Mr W. Melhuish, in a cookery lecture at the Technical Institute, Vincent Square, London. Referring to the products of milk, the lecturer said that casein was not only used for the making of cheese but also of celluloid, and even paving stones and hard stone for sculp turo. The, casein in cheese made it a good substitute for meat. It was more than equal to meat as a fleshforming food, but should nob be taken after a heavy meal or at night when the body was tired. West country labourers could do a hard day’s work on bread and cheese. Lactose, or sugar of milk, bad the peculiarity that it was practically unfermentable. It could he made into a powerful explosive. Milk-sugar, together with salts and water, constituted whey, and it was customary on the Continent to extract the sugar as an addition to the profit of dairies, but our farmers wasted whey in large quantities. Lactose and also albumen could bo added to cow’s milk to make it more like human milk. He thought there was also another proteid to be detected after boiling whey for four or five hours, but little was known about it. The ash of milk contained body and nerve building properties, and the salts, of which there was a large proportion, notably phosphates and calcium, would probably make it valuable for manure. Though milk was chiefly valued for the fat it contained, skimmed milk at a penny a quart was the best bargain in the world. The souring of milk was a ripening process carried out by little bacteria, and due not to the bacteria themselves, but to something that they produced. Though they caused mischief in the household jug, they did good work in the dairy. These bacteria did not grow for a little time after entering the milk, and at first even fell in number, hut they soon became strong and active. Fifteen grains of butter two hours after it was made contained 50,000,000 lactic bacteria, but after thirty days they decreased to 300,000. The different varieties of cheese entirely depended on the kind of bacteria used. Though cow’s milk contained all that, was necessary for the nourishment of our bodies, grownup people could not live on milk alone; they would require too much—eleven or twelve big tumblers a day. They also needed more energising food. Milk, however, could be made into a perfect food by introducing bread or rice, the starch blending with; tire lactose ‘ giving the invigorating quality. Bread and milk made the best supper to sleep on. Malted milk containing dried milk added to wheat and malt, was a good portable food. Ordinary sterilised milk was not ideal from the scientific standpoint, for to boil milk was to spoil it. The process of milking at dairies was by no means scientific, for the cows were allowed to raise dust by swinging their tails, and to scatter the bacteria, present in large quantities in hay, while feeding. He had noticed that, through, the friendly handling of tiro animal, a better supply was obtained. He made a plea for the better care of .milk in course of delivery, but he saw hopeful signs that the milk supply was improving. The custom of British farmers of adding preservatives to their milk was to be condemned, as it placed them on a level with foreign competitors. Mdk and cream should be consumed without preservatives. It did not need to be kept, but should be used as food while fresh.