TRUMILK

Recently Kristen wrote about homemade ice cream and the loveliness that is eCreamery.  The post and photos made my mouth water, so we decided to try out some ice cream.

We dug out the ice cream maker, Kushal found some rock salt and then I proceeded to burn the darn thing out.  I may NEVER adapt to which sockets various appliances can be plugged into.  The Husb surely thinks me a moron for having this horrible learning curve when it comes to voltage!

Soon after the recipe for Buttered Caramel, came a post from Kirsten about Cocoa Bean Chocolate and we had this comment dialogue ::

The point of this post though is not about the ice cream (although we DID eventually and successfully make Cinnamon Ice Cream by using the freezer vs the ice cream maker).  We made the ice cream, but no one really wanted to eat it because it tastes like boxed milk.

The point of this post is more about milk and the fact that after two years here in India, we are finally all drinking it again!

So let's chat about milk.

In Delhi, the options for milk in the past have been Mother Dairy, Amul or Nestle.

Mother Dairy is a machine, and according to their website, markets approximately 2.8 million liters of milk daily in the markets of Delhi, Mumbai, Saurashtra and Hyderabad. They sell via 14,000 retail outlets and 845 exclusive outlets of Mother Dairy.

Nestle has seven manufacturing facilities and four branch offices across the country.  They have over 6,000 products on the Indian market (crazy!), but I was unable to find information about how many liters of milk they sell per day.  To learn more about their system and community service, read HERE.

Amul is a smaller company, with about 50 products on the Indian market, but they still churn out 11.2 million liters of milk per day.

As an aside :: India produces the largest number of liters of milk (and also at the lowest cost) followed by the United States, Germany and then Pakistan.  (Source : Wikipedia)

"Urban India consumes over half of domestic milk production. Rising awareness about hygiene standards and preference against loose milk has prompted the urban consumer to switch to pasteurised packaged milk. This has created a demand of 140 million litres per day, which is expected to double in the next five years." (Source : India Today)

First came the fresh milk option :: (Super cheap.  Literally fresh (like still warm!) and scooped into your own container for about Rs. 15/liter.  This milk must be boiled before consumption) Then the bagged milk option :: (About the same cost.  This is your homogenized option and used just like the bags that are common in Canada.  This milk does not need to be boiled, but most folks still do) Then the boxed milk option (currently about Rs 52/box) :: Down near the bottom, the box says UHT Treated.  Toned Milk. Ultra-high temperature processing (UHT) provides a shelf life of 6-9 months (until opened) and causes a "browning" of sorts and a change of taste, due to the high heat.

(Now, just for perspective, all of the websites for UHT milk state that the shelf life is good "at room temperature" which in our kitchen (without air conditioning or a fan) holds between 30˚ and 35˚ depending on the day.  Yuck)

UHT typically contains no preservatives. After being heated to approximately 275˚ for 1-2 seconds, the milk is then germ free.  The milk is then typically packaged in a six-layer package (Nestle, Mother Dairy and Amul all claim this type of container) and there is no need to boil before consuming.

After two years with an option that I've never really been fond of since what I really wanted for my morning cereal was these,

I was beyond tickled pink to learn about TruMilk (currently about Rs 72 per jug, which is double the content of the Nestle box) ::

What sold me on trying TruMilk was (1) the jug with the screw top lid and (2) this piece of their marketing material :

We understand that you too are concerned about the quality of milk consumed by you and your family.

Like us, you probably worry about:                                                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                                        
Unregulated hormone use
Unhygienic conditions in which cows are milked
Nasty diseases in cows or those people who milk them
Unrefrigerated milk lying in open buckets overnight awaiting collection (cows are milked twice daily, but milk only collected once daily...)
Flies and other things in the milk that just should not be anywhere near milk
Whether your milk came from cows that browse garbage dumps for food

Why yes, I do!

I'm starting to get long-winded here and am sounding like a member of the TruMilk marketing team!!  (I'm not.  They don't even know I'm writing this.  I just want to spread the good word!)

To learn about their farms, click here.  To learn about the safety of their production, click here.  To learn about the cleanliness of their milk, click here.  To learn about the freshness, click here. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against the UHT milk because of the process, and I'm not a freak about preservatives, shelf life, etc.  To me, it's all about the taste.

When I don't care for cold cereal and milk in the morning, and my ice cream doesn't taste good because the milk has previously been heat blasted, it makes me VERY excited about TruMilk!

We have since made a batch of TruMilk cinnamon ice cream and it is DA BOMB!!!  

Want to try it out for yourself?  STORE LOCATIONS HERE

NOTE :: this isn't your boxed milk that you're used to!  It has a 4-5 day fridge shelf life and you will need to look carefully at the expiration date before purchasing, lest you end up back at home with milk that is only good for another day.  FYI - Modern Bazaar gets their delivery from TruMilk on M, W and F.