I am old enough to remember when milk was delivered by man on a horse drawn cart (like the baker and iceman) early in the morning who ladled out the required amount into a billy left out for that purpose.
Then later it was delivered in glass bottles with foil tops then cardboard containers and plastic bottles.
But a ‘milko’ (milkman) is virtually a thing of the past now.
The milk itself went from unhomogenised to fully homogenised.
And it was always pasteurised.
Raw milk, to my knowledge, has never been commercially available in Australia.
Even cheese made from raw milk, despite protests from some cheese makers, is not permitted. However I
see the nearest thing to it advertised on the internet together with a web site for the
Australian Raw Milk Movement.
But I have another relationship with milk.
A free milk scheme was first introduced into Queensland state (primary) schools in 1953.
The milk was supplied in one third of a pint bottles. Plain drinking straws were provided.
Inserting the straw into the bottle was challenging as it was almost impossible to open by normal means.
That’s where I came in.
Schools appointed so called ‘milk monitors’ who were provided with a metal spike to pierce the foil top and insert the straw. We were given 15 minutes grace from lessons just before ‘little lunch’ (morning tea) to do this.
It was a most sought after position, second only to ink well monitor which gave you even more class free time. Any misdeeds in class however could lead to dismissal from both positions.
The taste of the free school milk remains vividly in the memory of school children from this era. The milk was never refrigerated and, on a hot Queensland day, the taste it had acquired by 'little lunch' could be sickening. Enjoyment was not improved if you forgot to shake the bottle before consuming and got a mouthful of warm, sometimes lumpy cream.
Some fortunate children brought flavouring to school to add to the milk to make it more palatable. I remember there were also straws with a flavour infused insert (chocolate and strawberry) that helped to kill the flavour of the souring milk. Later on it was found that many of these inserts contained carcinogenic material.
Parents had to give permission for their child's participation in the scheme which was limited to children under the age of thirteen at the time of application.
Thanks a lot, Mum!
Where was I going with all this?
Oh yes!
Our favourite bakery
Lagom, just up the road, sells full cream (none of that 2% crap for me) unhomogenised milk from a
dairy at Tilba to the south of us.
It tastes wonderfully creamy if you shake the bottle first to disperse the thick plug of cream that forms at the top. And it has a nice distinctive yellowish colour.
Great on cereal and in a cappuccino for breakfast.
Beats the mass factory produced supermarket stuff hands down.
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