I regret not getting a Kobe beef burger in London last time I was over. Fucking Jimmeh.

Best burger I ever had was in a tiny little upstairs cafe in Hanoi, called the Golden Drum. Perfectly cooked beef patty.

Just remembered they gave me my change in forged notes, the bastards.

Spectacular beef in Vietnam so I suppose it makes sense.

You've been to gay bars in Spain, anyway.

Lucky Chip is real good too, although the chips were crazy salty when I went. They do some sort of wasabi mayo too which is good.

Marmite.

igorgetmeabrain wrote:

Skerret, I don't understand why homogenized milk is bad. I drink regular supermarket skimmed milk - is that less healthy than unhomogenized milk?

 
I believe so.  There's an awful of misinformation out there though. 

Hopefully I'm not teaching you to suck eggs here; homogenization involves pushing raw milk through tiny tubes at high pressure, the aim of which is to reduce the size of the fat globules in milk (normally about 1-10 microns) to 0.2 to 2 microns.  The globules of fat/cream, which would normally rise to the top, are now too small to do so and are therefore dispersed throughout the liquid.  There's a second process applied to break apart the large globules that reform but that's boring.  This process extends shelf life as does pasteurization which goes hand in hand with homogenization, sometimes simultaneously (pasteurization is the heat treatment one).

There's back and forth on whether this process is harmful or not.  Increased likelihood of heart disease is one possible outcome according to Oster, though this has been shouted down by a few people.  Unfortunately, the most vocal of those people represent the Weston A. Price Foundation.  I do not trust these people.  H and P milk is also suggested to be more likely to irritate the gut and provoke allergic reaction.  Anyway, I don't subscribe to this either way without picking my way through peer reviewed research, something I've not had the time for to date.

Much of the positive (mis)information about processed milk is unsurprisingly backed by large scale dairy manufacturers.  What H and P allows them to do is draw milk from a large range of sources and mix it together with minimal risk.  H and P prevents contamination from one bad batch of milk fucking up the whole pool.  Point being, they want you to think there's nothing wrong with that kind of milk and that raw milk is dangerous.  Both assertions are bollocks.  Raw milk intended for pasteurization (as all milk produced for large scale dairy operation is) is indeed a health risk, but what the governing bodies do not take into account is the fact that a small, conscientious dairy farm can happily produce raw (unhomogenized, unpasteurized) milk that is perfectly safe for consumption, is vastly more beneficial and tastes far better.

These thing are inarguable; H and P milk is chemically altered.  The proteins in H and P milk are denatured so it is of less nutritional benefit. It tastes like crap compared to the genuine article.  Unhomogemized unpasteurized milk offers greater bioavailability of minerals and proteins.  It's also fucking delicious and is almost always produced using small scale and sustainable farming methods by people with an eye to their environment and animals.

This article and this article provide a nice fluffy summary of why unhomogenized milk is a good thing.  They highlight why small farms that have precise control over their milk quality should not be subject to the same standards as the large companies.

Finally, and possibly the main reason I choose raw or at least unhomogenized, I give major consideration to of the quality of life of the animals producing the stuff and the small farms that manufacture it.  Take Schulz raw milk, which I buy whenever possible.  It's a wee farm outside of Melbourne in a place called Timboon.  Animal welfare is very high on their list of priorities, confirmed by several people that have seen the farm firsthand and the man himself.  Their milk is deeeelicious, sweet and slightly nutty.  Now, take a national dairy manufacturer.  The likelihood that their animals are subjected to the worst factory farming has to offer is sadly rather high (factory farmed dairy cows tend to cop it the worst).  Plus, their milk tastes distinctly grotty.

The above is good enough reason for me to buy raw milk or at least unhomogenized milk (places like Schulz offer unhomogenized but pasteurized, as well as their raw milk.  Their pasteurization process is the gentlest possible, using lower temperatures than the norm to minimize the damage done to the structure of the milk.  Their raw milk is sold as 'bath milk' as you cannot legally sell raw milk for human consumption, but everyone who buys it (including meee) does so for drinking purposes.  Sneaky eh).  

I drink milk for its nutritional value and would not buy it if I could not get access to the brands I do.  I used to drink whatever milk was in the fridge (as kids do) and would always feel a bit queasy after drinking it.  Now, never happens.  Raw milk is a complete food; homogenized, pasteurized milk is not.  Processed milk is to organic raw milk what McDonalds is to actual whole food.  Don't get me started on UHT milk, euugh.

I've read some evidence that those with dairy allergy issues switched to raw milk and suffered no further issues, though some of it was anecdotal.  If you do seek to source some, defo do your research.  Organic grocers might be a good place to ask.  My local is great, really know their stuff.

EDIT: found this.

DOUBLE EDIT: hang on, where do you live?

Ah.  Probably not much good me linking to a farm in East Sussex then.

yes sir

Wow, I posted a photo straight from my phone.

Kow wrote:

Wow, I posted a photo straight from my phone.

How the frig?

How do you get tortilla to cook all the way through I either end with raw potato or really dry egg, tips please.

Kow wrote:

Wow, I posted a photo straight from my phone.

how did you do that?

The potatoes are already cooked?