On milk and chilli peppers
February 26, 2012 * * * * * Posted by: Petra 
This time I want to share with you my thoughts and wonderings about milk and chilli peppers. Let me explain.
On milk:
I live in a milk drinking country. I was raised with the idea that drinking three glasses of milk a day is important for one’s health. I am not much of a milk drinker. I only like milk when it is so cold that you can’t taste it. I especially dislike warm milk, I don’t even like it in my coffee. Maybe this dislike started in primary school, where we used to have to drink the daily provided school milk which I hated because the milk was room-temperature by the time we got to drink it.
Not so long ago I learned that there is no need to drink that much milk at all, it turned out that the 3-glasses-a-day slogan was invented and sponsored by the milk-industry and not by the health department. It was just a commercial, but we never knew.
While on vacation in the tropics it occurred to me that I never saw locals drink milk and they didn’t look unhealthy to me. And if you think about it: there is no mammal in the world that drinks some other mammals milk, except for us humans.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I was on skiing holiday in the Austrian Alps. It was very cold. The last day the temperature was -15C/5F during the daytime. As we were warming up in a ski hut somewhere along the skiing slopes, I was watching the man behind the counter and noticed how many drinks and food were served with some sort of milk product. Lots of hot chocolate with milk and cream, cafe au lait, apfelstrudel mit vanillesauce (warm apple pie with warm custard and/or whip cream ). And I was thinking. Wow, even more (warm) milk over here than at home and I was wandering: could it be that the colder the climate the more milk products are consumed?
This question immediately triggered another question:
On chilli peppers:
Is it true, that the closer one gets to the equator, the spicier the food? I once read about this and it seems correct. I know Indonesian, Indian and Thai food are often very spicy, and those are countries near or on the equator. But it even opened up my mind even more when I noticed that a friend of mine eats really, really, spicy. She is from Sierra Leone, an African country on the west coast, close to the equator.
So, is this true? and if so: can we explain this?
My guess is that climate is an important factor. Chillies grow in warm climates and cows maybe produce more milk in the our colder and wet climate, with lots of grass. So it has to be about the product being nearby and easy to get.
Another thing might be that chillies (marinades) help to preserve meat a little longer, which may be important in warm places, I can understand that. And maybe milk gets sour too quickly in warm countries.
But what is this with milk? Does milk help you keep warm when its cold outside?
chilli pepper, milk
Reader Comments (18)
I am so not into spicy food, here in Holland is also is not part of our culture in the kitchen...
This is a most interesting story and it does make sense when you think of it. But do you know that IF you eat too spicy and you almost hit the ceiling of the pain, DRINK MILK (never water)..... the milk will get the fire out of your mouth.
I was lucky, that I never had to drink milk at school. I stopped drinking milk, after I found out I became sick from it. I saw that my son had the same reaction to milk as I had, so since the age of 8, he does not drink milk any more and he is as healthy as can be.
This would be a very interesting study, to find out if the location of a country, seen from the equator is important what the local people eat and drink.
In that regard it is great that we now have a lot of foreign restaurants and foreign products in the stores in Holland, so that we can get a taste of the spicy food.
Ginnie can handle spicy food better than I can, however, I am always in for a try. In Holland we have a saying 'Wat de boer niet kent, eet hij niet' (What is not familiar to the farmer, he wont eat).
Interesting thoughts and musings here...and I love the image!!!
My understanding is that they eat spicy foods in those hot climates because it cools them off. As for the milk in the more northern climates - maybe it has to do with the raising of cattle? Maybe it's difficult to raise and feed the milk-producing animals in those parts of the world that are too hot to grow grass and other vegetation that would feed them???
Just thinking out loud. I really don't know...:-)!
It sure is interesting what we hear about milk now since the good ol' days, isn't it, Petra! I'll never forget the first time I heard entire countries and/or groups of people are lactose-intolerant and can't drink milk. And you're right about "there is no mammal in the world that drinks some other mammals milk, except for us humans." It does give one pause.
Going one step further, I learned in my massage-therapy training that it's important to know your family's heritage because that's the food that probably most "agrees" with you, regardless of where you live now. Interesting.
A very interesting idea, and through my travels, I can confirm many of the things you have said. In England we drank milk at school, and the warmer the country we moved to the less milk was drunk. But my English nurtured system has never managed to copy with curry or heavy spice. This would make a fascinating study. Thank you for making me think.
have never been a fan of either, milk (not since i was in primary school when they used to serve it to us warm after it had been left out all morning), and chillis, which make me cough terribly. so i'm afraid, i can't really add any great insights here :)
Call me "totally clueless," but what interesting thoughts and questions!!
I love 'em both, cold milk and hot, spicy anything! Great, interesting post ~ awesome image!
When I lived in Liberia and when I was sailing, the most difficult lack was the lack of milk. On one long-distance sail, the crew was limited to one cup per day - but at the end of the day, at midnight, whatever was left from the day's ration could be had by anyone. You should have seen the crew lined up to fight one another for the milk!
As for chilis, they're a staple here in Texas, as in Louisiana and New Mexico. Even drinking chocolate sometimes is spiced with chilis, and now chocolate bars. I'm not so fond of that, but a spicy gumbo? Oh, yes!
I'm right with you on the not liking to drink milk -- and, like you, mostly because of the 'warm milk' drinking experience from my youth. You have certainly given us 'food' for thought today! Love your image.
Great image--looks like a salsa waiting to happen! I can no longer eat spicy food but I can, and do, drink milk . . . .a lot of it. Milk has always been my favorite beverage. I grew up drinking it and I still prefer a cold glass of milk to a cold glass of beer. I have no answers on the questions raised but I like how thought-provoking they are. Wonderful exchange underway here!
Give me milk and I'm happy - cold, hot, with or without cocoa. Petra, I started drooling when you mentioned Apfelstrudel mit Vanillesauce - oh yum!!! And Astrid is completely right in mentioning that milk is the best to drink if food is too spicy and you're on fire.
Interesting thoughts about where milk is drunk and spicy food is eaten. When I lived in Taiwan, it was hard to find milk and it was horribly expensive, however, this was a "luxury" I wouldn't give up, not even with my meagre student's budget. Spicy food was readily avalaible and cheap.
What a fabulous image. The colors are amazing!
I used to have to drink milk at school too and hated doing so in the hot weather. It was in the days before it was all homogenized and so the cream would be a greasy blob at the top - yuk!
I don't drink much milk now, except in coffee and tea but LOVE love love spicy foods. Must be all those years living in Asia. Give me a good curry for dinner any day!
What an interesting discussion. I have a late in life discovery of milk allergy but was raised drinking goat milk. I never loved it except with sweet things like cake (and it had to be really cold). Love spicy, tho...with garlic in everything except breakfast cereal.
I think milk is good for the diet for example it contains calcium. But I always think everything in moderation is good for you.
I love your image!
I love the image, with the bright green and contrasting red. I've always disliked milk. Adding chocolate helped. Now I take calcium supplements and drink almond milk when I want hot chocolate or just on it's own. It tastes better than milk to me. Besides how spicy food is, there is a variation between areas and what kinds of spices are used to flavor food. Perhaps that also has to do what is most abundantly available and then is carried on because of tradition.
On this topic of likes and dislikes, I've always wondered what creates a picky eater, someone who eats only a very small selection of food -- commonly that includes white bread, chicken, french fries, corn, and soda and they refuse to even try anything else. It seems to run in families. So is it genetic, something about their tastebuds, or just the food people are brought up on?
When I was a child I drank insane amounts of milk, every day. And now, I rarely drink it. But I am addicted to spicy food!
You bring up some very interesting points, all good questions. It does make sense that climate has something to do with it.
Love your photo!
Your image is so inviting! So Mediterranean :) I always loved drinking milk, hot or cold, and having lived for many years in Sicily, I've become a real fan of hot chilly peppers too! Here in Italy we eat spicy food especially in the South, so I think that what you said about the chillies being used to preserve meat and other foods when it's hot outside must be true. Great post!