Milk

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Why is milk not fresh in France? Been meaning to ask this ever since I paid my first visit to the supermarket and couldn't find the fridge with all the milk in.

It's handier than fresh milk, but was wondering why it isn't fresh.

[Clair]

There is fresh milk in all my local supermarkets. It's usually kept near the fresh cream.

Could it be that it's sold out before you visit?

[chrisb]

Our local Leclerc have now moved the fresh milk so that it's next to the longlife stuff. They're also stocking much more than they ever used to - there's even a choice of brand.

Demand must have risen - can't just be the Brits!

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

So what is normal, bog standard fresh milk called and where is it normally found? There's millions of different types (it seems) and I can only ever find the long life stuff and all the bio this and eco that stuff. I just want normal milk![:'(]

[Danny]

"I just want normal milk!"

The uht long life stuff is the normal stuff in a lot of France. Fresh milk is available too but not like in the UK or Australia. My own feeling is that France is (comparitively) too sparsely populated to support a transport system of fresh milk deliveries like in the UK. it is a hell of a lot of milk to move around every day and there are a lot of empty places around here.

We just got used to the UHT milk after a few months. Now I don't really notice a big difference.

Danny

 

[cooperlola]

Is it just me, the Sarthe, or what?  Except on very odd occasions when they've run out, I can always find fresh milk in all our supermarkets round here - although it's normally not to be found close to the UHT stuff.

[Will]

No Coops, it's not just you. We can get it everywhere too. Either pasteurised or unpasteurised, whole or semi-skimmed. I guess fresh milk is common in or close to dairy-producing areas, like Normandy, but less common elsewhere.

 

[Gardian]

No Will, fresh milk here too in the deep south ..... and not a cow in sight (well, not the bovine variety, anyway!)

[Jonzjob]

We think that the situation runs along with the breakfst cerials situation. 10 or so years back there was a small part in any s/market that had a few breakfast cerials in it and the milk was nowhere to be seen. The French did not use milk in coffee or tea so there was no call for it.

Now there has been an elplosion in the c r a p for breakfast department and the only way that the milk is presented is in the form of the c r a p that you see on the shelves, commonly labled as UHT or sterilised and completely undrinkable to anyone but the French (duck John).

The milk we get is one of your greaded Bio Lait Frais Demi-écrémé pasteurisé au bain-marie, i.e. not belted to death and homogogised... I have mentioned this in another thread receintly. Not the cheapest that you can get, but i will say again that you are what you eat!!! Oh yes, it's from Jersey cattle too.

Our local Intermarché also do a fresh milk and we get that if we can't get the good stuff...

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

[quote user="Jane and Danny"]

"I just want normal milk!"

The uht long life stuff is the normal stuff in a lot of France. Fresh milk is available too but not like in the UK or Australia. My own feeling is that France is (comparitively) too sparsely populated to support a transport system of fresh milk deliveries like in the UK. it is a hell of a lot of milk to move around every day and there are a lot of empty places around here.

We just got used to the UHT milk after a few months. Now I don't really notice a big difference.

Danny

 

[/quote]

UK, I understand, but not Australia. Australia rural makes France rural look like a city![:D]

I'm used to UHT now, but I only have it in coffee. Just found it strange and wondered what the reason was.

[chrisb]

[quote user="LyndaandRichard"]So what is normal, bog standard fresh milk called and where is it normally found? There's millions of different types (it seems) and I can only ever find the long life stuff and all the bio this and eco that stuff. I just want normal milk![:'(]

[/quote]

demi ecreme is semi skimmed

lait entier is whole milk

lait cru is unpasteurised (not widely available)

bio just means it's from an organic herd

Most supermarkets either have it near the cream or the yoghurt - somewhere in the dairy chiilers anyway. They always used to have sold out by lunchtime but now seem to have bigger stocks.

[Suze01]

[quote user="LyndaandRichard"]So what is normal, bog standard fresh milk called?[/quote]

Ask for lait frais. I don't know what your french is like, but it is pronounced lay fray.  A friend, whose french is not so good, was given strawberry flavoured milk!!

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

[quote user="Suze"][quote user="LyndaandRichard"]So what is normal, bog standard fresh milk called?[/quote]

Ask for lait frais. I don't know what your french is like, but it is pronounced lay fray.  A friend, whose french is not so good, was given strawberry flavoured milk!!

[/quote]

Because there's no e at the end![:)]

[Danny]

[quote user="LyndaandRichard"]

UK, I understand, but not Australia. Australia rural makes France rural look like a city![:D]

I'm used to UHT now, but I only have it in coffee. Just found it strange and wondered what the reason was.
[/quote]

Of course, the big bit in the middle is not brimming with people (or milk) but a lot of the population in Oz live in the coastal areas and it is quite an urban country. There are bits of the UK where you can't easily get fresh milk. What I should have said before was a it seems to be rural / urban thing.

Like us, i have the feeling that a lot of recent immigrants to France have come from an urban environment and have settled in the countryside. Around this part, there is fresh milk but you have to be first in line to get it as there is not much on the shelf.

Danny