Irish milk is a Grand Cru ingredient and Ireland produces the best milk in the world’, says John and Sally McKenna, authors of the new book, “Milk”. The book explores the complete food chain that brings milk from the pasture to our kitchens.
In France, the highest rating for wines would be a grand cru or a premier cru," John explains. "You’re looking at places where people say, 'This is the ideal location for growing this [type of] grape.' It struck me: in Ireland, we have the perfect circumstances for making the best milk. Clean rain, green fresh grass, small farms, and hands-on farmers with small herds. It’s an echo of the French system where you have the perfect circumstance to produce optimum quality.”
Research presented by Teagasc has shown that grass-fed dairy is higher in beneficial fats, protein and nutrients than other milk, but currently only a small percentage of global milk production uses a grass-fed system. John believes the milk produced in Ireland is like a magic elixir; chock-full of health benefits for people of all ages.
The Irish obsession with milk proves a simple truth: milk is a magic liquid. ‘The Irish are the greatest lovers of milk I ever met’,wrote the traveller and writer John Stevens at the end of the 17th century. ‘Ireland has an extensive history and folklore tradition in seeking to create meaning and understanding of milk’s magical properties.’ says Food Historian Regina Sexton.
Milk is a culinary shapeshifter like no other, able to transform into multiple guises, to change density, to disassemble and then reassemble, to become sour, and yet be especially delectable when made sweet. The book explores its amazing versatility looking at the history of butter and cheesemaking in Ireland. Butter was of such vital importance to the Irish economy that Butter Roads were fashioned to speed the shipping of casks of butter to the city – the first Butter Road, built from 1747 onwards, ran between Castleisland in County Kerry and Cork city, shortening the journey from 102 miles to 66 miles, meaning a farmer could make the round trip with his horse and cart in just two or three days.
‘We’ve known how to transform milk into butter for thousands of years,’ says Professor Alan Kelly of UCC. ‘That it’s so deeply ingrained in our DNA, going back that far, is remarkable.’‘ What I love about the stories of milk’s cultural significance is the fact that it was an art, long before it was a science, and it would appear to magically transform’ says Professor Kelly.
MILK also introduces the best dairy farmers in Ireland, the family-farm winners of the annual NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards, who outline the importance of pasture-fed milk and butter. The book explores the culture, history and culinary potential of the magic liquid, which is Ireland’s culinary treasure, and features brand new recipes from the new generation of chefs working in Ireland.
While the Milk cookbook features recipes from 60 Irish chefs, and each recipe uses Irish dairy as a main ingredient, the recipes themselves are culturally diverse and impressively styled and shot by Kildare-based photographer Mike O'Toole and chef Anne Marie Tobin. John feels it’s important to showcase other cultural uses for milk; methods which are not only interesting, but sometimes superior to our own. By combining these recipes and techniques with Irish dairy, something special is achieved.
ESTRAGON PRESS | PUB DATE 6 OCT 2020 | HARDBACK | €17.99 at selected bookshops throughout Ireland.
