French Milk

Product Information

In a wide dish, whisk the egg, milk and vanilla or cinnamon together. Coat one side of the bread slices in the liquid, then carefully flip them over and leave them to soak for 1-2 mins. If the bread isn’t very fresh you can leave for a few mins more. You want the eggy milk mixture to be absorbed into the bread but not so much that it falls apart. The famous “milkman” is a piece of American history. Americans grew up with the tradition of fresh milk being delivered to their homes” pointed out Paul Bensabat, former CEO of Lactalis in the United Sates, and founder of Saveur Food. Since fresh milk can only be kept in the refrigerator, Americans can only imagine drinking milk if it comes out of the fridge.” The taste is a little different from pasteurized or raw milk, but unlike many French people, my kids guzzle it by the gallon. Normally you can find it in whole ( entière), low fat ( demi-ecrémé) and non-fat ( ecrémé) versions.

I thought this book would be a little more introspective, especially since the author herself mentions early on calling it French Milk as a reference to, well, French milk, but also to mother's milk and what's passed on by a mother to daughter. But there was no discussion of their relationship at all, and even the milk shows up late in the book -- strange for something that is, after all, the title image. I'd been hoping for something more along the lines of Alison Bechdel's "Fun Home." Savory French toast:French toast doesn’t have to be sweet! You can make a savory version by omitting the sugar and adding herbs and spices to the egg mixture. Try adding garlic powder, dried herbs, or grated Parmesan cheese. You do know that France is positively swimming in an incredible variety of fabulous cheese, don't you? Some say more than 500 different kinds, but one can imagine that it is even more than that!Divide the dough into 16 equal portions. If you have time, use a digital scale so that each bun is the same size. On this occasion, I didn’t use a scale, so you can see below that my buns vary in size slightly, but that’s not a bad thing 😉 Just plain old milk is one dairy product that gets surprisingly little love in France. There is a distinct tendency to make milk into something else, like cheese or yogurt.

Starches change more often than liquids, however. And having recently tried alternative methods, I’ve got to say; the eggs can stay, but I don’t think you should limit yourself to plain ol’ milk anymore. I am a milk, drinker as older Americans are supposed to drink at least 3 glasses of milk (24 oz) per day. Look at the epidemic of osteoporosis in America because of low calcium intake. And milk is still a lot better than 5 lbs of chard to get that calcium. I live in France, between Brittany and Paris at least 3 months a year. Fresh milk is in every supermarket that I’ve been in. You’ll notice that Parisians are slighter build, don’t mean just slimmer, as they certainly are slimmer than Americans. Yes, the French historically drank less milk than Americans and the cities had less milk available because they had little refrigeration in the past. In Paris there were goats on ropes and should an apartment dweller need fresh milk they’d yell to the goat owner to send up the goat! Goats naturally keep going up and when they got to the etage (floor) the dweller would milk a liter of milk, pay their francs in a pay-collar and send the goat down. So you see, milk was hard to come by. Parisians got their calcium in cheese and yogurt, which didn’t require refrigeration. It wasn’t so much a preference, but a necessity. Cultural norms are hard to drop. Don't be fooled by the name, this French dairy product isn't much like cheese at all. It is more similar to yogurt, with perhaps slightly less tang. It comes in full fat, low fat and non-fat versions. The French might eat this topped with a little sugar or fruit for breakfast or dessert. It can also be used in recipes, like this French cheesecake recipe. With instant yeast, you can add it directly to the flour mixture without having to activate it first. Cover the pans with a clean tea towel, and place the pans somewhere warm for about 30 minutes, or until the buns have risen and puffed up slightly.

In general, it is surely best that you eat cheese that is made near where you live, with maybe an occasional treat from France. However, it can be helpful to learn about French cheese anyway as it does set the standard for what many cheese makers around the world are aiming for. Also, if you are planning a trip to France, you should by all means learn a little about the cheese and taste as much as you can when you are here. It is worth the trip! Learn more about French cheese. Keep it warm:If cooking multiple slices of French toast, keep them warm by placing them on a baking sheet in a low-temperature oven (around 200°F or 95°C) until you're ready to serve. Once the dough has doubled in size, gently remove the dough from the bowl. The dough will deflate as you handle it. To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients. Did you make this recipe?