MILK - John and Sally McKenna
MILK explores the culture, history and culinary potential of the magic liquid which is Ireland’s culinary treasure, and features brand new recipes from the new generation of chefs working in Ireland. MILK also looks at the scientific understanding of the liquid, and explores its unique cultural power and resonance in the history of Ireland.
MILK, the story of Ireland's culinary treasure explored through recipes, history and culture - John and Sally McKenna
Irish milk is a Grand Cru ingredient and Ireland produces the best milk in the world’, say John and Sally McKenna, authors of the new book, MILK. There is no cookery book quite like MILK, the new title from food writers John and Sally McKenna.
The book explores the complete food chain that brings milk from the pasture to our kitchens.
MILK introduces the best dairy farmers in Ireland, the family-farm winners of the annual NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards, who outline the importance of pasture-fed milk and butter.
MILK explores the culture, history and culinary potential of the magic liquid which is Ireland’s culinary treasure, and features brand new recipes from the new generation of chefs working in Ireland. MILK also looks at the scientific understanding of the liquid, and explores its unique cultural power and resonance in the history of Ireland.
MILK explains a modern agricultural paradox and phenomena: How a global business worth more than four billion euro and representing more than fifty thousand jobs is centered around small family farms in the Irish countryside. Due to its unique composition, there exists an emerging concept of the dairy ‘matrix’ which looks at how the various nutrients and components present in dairy products work together in synergy, and explores how the health affects of these nutrients, when consumed in dairy products, may be more effective than the individual nutrients working in isolation. There is a unique fingerprint to Ireland’s dairy produce, due to animals being fed on grass. The Journal of Dairy Science unequivocally asserts that ‘dairy produce from pasture-fed animals is superior.’
‘Whilst the official Government emblem is the harp, we should consider another – the cow – to mark the cultural and economic contribution the cow has made to Ireland through time,’ says food historian Regina Sexton, quoted in MILK. New research by UC Davis shows that the Biogenic Carbon Cycle transfers ruminant methane into carbon dioxide, which is then captured by plants and consumed by ruminant animals as part of the cycle. Due to the grass-based production system, Irish dairy farms have some of the lowest levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, with approximately 99% of the water used supplied naturally by rainfall.
