Celebrating milk - a global food

JOYCE WYLLIE

World Milk Day is observed on 1 June every year. It is a day established internationally by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to “recognise the importance of milk as a global food” and has been marked each year since 2001.

In New Zealand, 1 June is a significant day in the dairy diary, colloquially called “gypsy day”. The first official day of winter is the time of the year when many farms, herds, and jobs change hands. People, cows, tractors, households, dogs, kennels, machinery, pets, furniture, and families all move from one job, farm, or share-milking contract, to a new one.

Not everyone moves every year, obviously, but is a big day on the calendar as the new season begins and some people take up new opportunities, new roles, join new communities, and children enrol in new schools. Milk Day is not just about the product but also the producers, so all the best to dairy farmers, whether they are changing jobs or continuing in the same one.

A good recipe to share on Milk Day is junket. An easy dessert made with milk and only one other ingredient – rennet, the digestive enzyme that curdles milk. Adding rennet to warm milk creates junket, ready to eat in only 10 minutes.

Our mum trained as a home economics teacher and agreed with FAO that milk is an important food, so we ate junket often as children. I well remember the special junket dish she used: a flat-sided oval dish with brown edges, and a flower on the bottom you could see when it was empty of healthy contents. Junket was regularly served as dessert for our family, accompanied by fresh or home-bottled fruit, but ice cream was a treat. Dad milked a house cow, so using fresh warm milk meant no heating was required. Cottage cheese can also be made with milk and rennet. Curds and whey form when the junket is cut.

Mum’s basic recipe for junket

600ml milk, warmed to just under 40 degrees C. Stir in 1 teaspoon of rennet.

Pour into a dish or individual bowls. Sprinkle nutmeg over the top and stand for 10 minutes, then into the fridge until required.

Sugar, cream, and other flavours can be added (coffee, chocolate, jam, or brandy liqueur).