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Baked milk is a traditional staple of Russian and Ukrainian cuisine, made by heating milk in an oven or simmering it for a long time. It has a delicious brown crust and is a convenient way to keep milk from spoiling. Baked milk is also popular in other parts of Europe and the world, with different variations and flavors.
Baked milk is a staple of Russian cuisine and, in particular, of the Ukrainian diet. It is fresh milk that has been heated in an oven or simmered for most of the day or overnight. If simply scalded, the milk is effectively pasteurized. Most importantly, the cooked variety acquires a delicious brown crust and even completely caramelizes. The happy accident of “overcooked” milk is in all likelihood the origin of the Spanish custard and dulce de leche spread and dessert.
Families in remote areas of Russia and Ukraine needed to keep the milk from spoiling while being stored at room temperature. Before refrigerators became commonplace, most peasant cottages had large ovens on hand. The ovens were therefore kept on fire most of the time. Placing a jug of milk closer or further away from the heat source has proven to be a convenient way to simmer or deep-cook the milk. This method of killing all the microbes and enzymes that could cause the milk to go sour gave rise to baked milk.
Refrigerators are widespread today, but the Russian taste for baked milk, or ryazhenka, remains, as does the appetite for sour milk and yoghurt, born in the remote regions of the Caucasus. All over Russia and Ukraine, therefore, there are factories churning out all three forms of processed milk. Boiled milk became the catchword for these processed dairy products because the otherwise bland taste of plain boiled milk was infused with good bacteria, the thermopile subspecies of milk strep. Allowed to ferment slightly, they offer a flavor closer to yogurt than regular cooked milk. Such is the power of popular consensus, however, that this latte is often associated with the sour taste of unflavored yogurt.
Due to the variety of ethnic and rural practices associated with its origins, cooked milk varies in appearance, texture and taste. At one end of the spectrum, the product remains white but is a thickened version of fresh whole milk. At the other extreme, is the salty crust and heavily caramelized, syrupy texture, similar to a fully cooked milkshake. In between are the beige-colored, still liquid beverages commonly found in Russian and Polish groceries in Europe and North America.
Far from being just an ethnic Slavic or Eastern European taste, baked milk traveled all over Europe, crossed the Atlantic and South America thanks to the Spanish and the Portuguese conquistadors, and even traveled the trade routes to the ‘India. Along the way, variants have been developed. French jam de lait is a spreadable and sweetened product. Norwegians like it thicker, but not too sweet. Italians flavor theirs with hazelnut, while Indians generally prefer the spice of cardamom.
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