You say Milk, I say Leche...

Another for the "Things that are different in Chile" files.

It didn't really shock me and I haven't really thought too much about it since living here, but sooooo many people I know comment on it, that I thought it deserved it's own post.

Milk here (and in most of South America and many parts of Europe) is sold unrefrigerated. As in warm.  Just sitting on the shelf in it's own cardboard box (some are plastic bottles).  It is sold by the liter.  You can buy it by the case but there is no discount for buying in bulk.  Just convenience.


And there is an entire aisle in the supermarket dedicated to milk and it's different forms - Entera (whole)

          

The plastic bottle will cost you an extra $.26 at today's exchange rate.  Per liter (about $1.00 a gallon)

Semi-Descremada (2%) and Descremada (Fat Free). 

I find that Descremada is cheaper - even within the same brands.

There are also the Lactose free, the Extra Calcium, the Extra Omega, the anything you can think of that would make the milk more expensive, but there is one thing there is NOT, and that is fresh or refrigerated milk.

It takes a bit of getting used to for most people.  I only say for most people because I had been exposed to this way of drinking milk before I ever left college.  My parents lived in Mexico and it was the only way to buy milk there too.  At first, I was hesitant.  Who wouldn't be?  Milk that spoiled at room temperature was all I knew up to that point and now they were handing me a box from the pantry for my morning cereal.  But guess what - It was good.  It actually tasted no different than the milk I had been drinking for years.  Granted - I have heard the complaints about it not tasting exactly the same.  But I can't tell the difference. I also don't drink mild straight from the glass. 

And when I found it in California - I bought it by the case.  It didn't replace my regular milk. But it was my emergency stash.  Just in case I didn't make it to the store in time, I always had milk on hand.  And with two babies under the age of 3 having milk on hand at all times was uber-importante (making up words now.  Yes, I am).

And now you are wondering how I could feed this to my babies.  

Because all it is is MILK.  Without any additives.  No hormones.  No Vitamin D (go outside and get some, it's healthier).  Nada.  It is simply milk.

People have so many questions - How can it possibly have a shelf life of 6 months?  Shelf - as in my pantry.  How can you say they haven't added anything to it to make that possible?  Why does it not spoil?  There has to be a weird taste to it?  It can't be milk if it doesn't need to be cold.  And if it's not milk, what is it?  Does it really come from cows?  Seriously, what kind of cancer causing, three head making, extra limb growing things are added to the milk to make it fit for sitting on a shelf in a cardboard box?

The answer is very simple actually.  The milk is heated and then quickly cooled and packaged in an airtight container. Ok - maybe not that simple, but really, it is easy.

Milk (all pasteurized milk at least) is heated and then quickly cooled and stored.

Good ole, regular, just pasteurized milk (or High Temperature, Short Time) is heated to a maximum of 165 degrees F and is held there for 15-20 seconds. It must be refrigerated to keep the nasty buggy's that might have survived from breeding.  This is what you find on the shelf in most U.S. grocery stores.  It will last for about a week to ten days and it will simply be labeled pasteurized.

Ultra High Pasteurized milk (Ultra High Temperature) is heated to 280 degrees F and only held there for one second or so.  It kills ALL of the bacteria in the milk (and from what I have read - it leaves it nutritionally intact).  But that isn't all that is necessary - you also need the special packaging that goes with it.  The boxes (and now some plastic bottles) are sterilized and they must be filled in a sterile environment.  It is commonly called an aseptic package made of layers of polyethylene  aluminum foil and cardboard.  The same thing most juice boxes that kids drink are made from.

But it still seems to gross people out when I tell them about the fact that I can't buy "fresh" milk in Chile.  And yet, most of them wouldn't hesitate to snap these up from Costco to send in their kids school lunches...

These were always a favorite of both girls.

There are a lot of things that I have had to get used to here in Chile.  This is just one of them.  But it was probably one of the easier ones to wrap my head around.  It's about the same price (about $4.50 a gallon), tastes pretty much the same as long as you refrigerate it before drinking, and my kids didn't even suspect anything had changed.  I also don't have to worry about running out of milk.  I just run to my pantry where I have a case on hand at all times.  That never spoils (well, at least not in this house)