A land of milk and .. funny !

Fresh milk ? Be careful what you wish for.

As noted the other day, making functional milk cartons in Brazil is a challenge. But finding fresh milk, as opposed to the ubiquitous UHT cr&p is nigh on impossible. I finally managed to track some down in the local neighbourhood: from a specialist (Jewish) shop rather than a supermarket (whose employees look as if they are talking in their sleep when you ask them if they have fresh milk; you might as well ask if they provide daily trips to the moon).

Of course for this rare privilege we had to pay an extra-extortionate amount rather than the regular-extortionate. Still, the excitement was palpable as we hastily brought our prized possession home, opened it (always easier said than done here) and sipped the liquid gold ... YUCK !! What the hell ... ?! Sour, sour, sour. Disgusting !

Do they know about refrigeration in Brazil ? It's a relatively new concept that allows you to transport and store goods without having to salt or pickle them, or have them turn into natural emetics... So depressing. Can there be anything worse to someone used to buying decent food at decent prices than grocery shopping in Brazil ?

My noo best friend Luiz, an eccentrically worldly Brazilian, told me on the weekend about Brazil's scandalous lack of a dairy industry, despite the nineteenth century immigration of large numbers of Swiss and Germans, thanks to the Brazilian Emperor's European in-laws.

Yet none of their farming prowess seemed to rub off on this impossible country, and today it remains woefully lacking in any decent, home grown dairy products. Apparently Starbucks hasn't opened many stores here because it can't source the milk it needs.

And yet neighbouring Uruguay and Argentina have some wonderful cheese, milk, cream and butter, not forgetting wine which just across the border in Brazil is unknown. (They prefer their mass-produced, sugary, fizzy lager here in Brazil. What a surprise.)

The thing that keeps pushing me over the edge is this vast ignorance and corresponding lack of any curiosity when you try to raise these issues with the locals. And in the end it is this, more than any amount of depressing food products, which leaves the lingering sour taste in my mouth.

UPDATE: Bought a second bottle. That has also gone off.


UPDATE 2: Just tried taking them back. Store won't give refund, we must wait for the supplier to agree that the milk is off and, if she does, we may graciously be given replacements. That's Brazil all over; the country is just clueless.


UPDATE 3: Went to store the following day, was preparing to make a scene (always hard when you don't speak the language) but, in that classic Brazilian way, the formerly immovable manager suddenly offered us a refund as if it was the simplest and most natural thing in the world. This is a country where people seem to argue as if they are having a pleasant natter across the garden fence. Compare that to another country I know well, Israel, where people look like they are having a violent falling out when in fact they are just saying hello, how are you ? I love non-confrontational Brazil much of the time but, sadly, without confrontation, things are unlikely to change for the better.