Indian Samurai इंडियन सामुराई

The discovery of the century! I’ve been drinking buffalo milk for years!

I didn’t believe it at first... But it is true: in India is not mandatory to mention the source of the milk on the packaging so when manufacturers do not indicate the source it means it is not cow milk. And I trusted Nestlé to give me “proper” milk like at home (I gave up milk in plastic bag the day when after learning that I had to boil it, I forget it on the stove and I burnt everything).

Cow milk and buffalo milk are not the same! Even if it is so much pasteurized that it tastes almost the same. First of all, since my cat discovered cow milk, he snubs buffalo milk, the best proof ever!

Secondly, buffalo milk has twice more fat than cow milk (hence it is less digestible). And it contains less cholesterol and more energy. I don’t  know what is best for health – Indian websites praise buffalo milk (well of course, 50% of the world buffalo population live in India) – but whatever said and done, it's cheating to sell packaged milk without saying it's buffalo milk!

And I like milk. Even though nowadays we keep hearing that adults should not drink milk (because it is not so digestible). And in India when you see what garbage cows eat, you’d rather stop drinking milk at all (apparently some people cut buffalo milk with water to lower the fat content and claim it is cow milk – cow milk has good reputation because foreigners only drink this one).

Sources: http://profwaqarhussain.blogspot.in/2012/08/comparison-of-buffalo-milk-ND-cow-milk.html; http://www.nddb.org/English/statistics/pages/population-India-species.aspx; http://www.fiapo.org/downloads/dairyreport.PDF; http://www.aavinmilk.com/dairyprofile.html; http://www.fssai.gov.in/portals/0/PDF/food%20Safety%20and%20standards%20%28Packaging%20and%20Labelling%29%20regulation, %202011.pdf; http://www.caiindia.org/PDFs/MILKEnglish.PDF; http://Lite.ePaper.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=Yes & pageid = 2 & sectid = edid = & edlabel = TOICH & mydateHid = 13-10-2011 & pubname = Times + of + India +- + Chennai & edname = & articleid = Ar00200 & publabel = you

One evening I needed something to cheer me up, a treat so I went to Santé (a tiny shop specialized in imported products) to... buy myself a steak! And the steaks they handed over to me ! I had not seen any steak so big in more than 8 years!! When I realised they came from the USA, I thought no wonder...

When came the time to pay, I cheerfully gave my card without even asking about the price: tonight my pleasure is priceless! But I withdrew it promptly from the hands of the cashier when I heard the amount: 3,500 rupees (€40)! For 700 grams of meat? At that price I’d rather go to Dubai and get a barbecue! I therefore left the steaks behind...

And I went to the Cold Storage (which is the closest thing to a butcher’s shop here). I asked for the tenderloin undercut – which is what I usually take, it is melting in the mouth, it is delicious. The only thing is that they only sell it by the piece and they had only one piece left and it was of 2 kgs. I already have a hard time finishing the 1 kg undercut (even if I freeze the steaks) so I decided it had to be a sign: no (holy) cow for dinner tonight! But the guy was a good salesman; seeing my disappointment he managed to sell me some cubes of local beef, 60 rupees to 300 grams. Haha!!  

I was still recovering from the shock caused by the difference of price when the cubes of beef landed on my plate. Not only did I almost hurt my jaw with the chewing but also it wasn’t really tasty (I'm still wondering if it was not buffalo instead of beaf)... The next time I’ll stick to my undercut at 250 rupees per kilo!

More about cows, beef, worshipping, and everything here: http://www.indiandacoit.com/apps/search?s=beef

We just saw why cows are considered as sacred in India; and the advantage of being a God is that you can do what you want when you want where you want... So if a cow wants to be where it is, well it just stays here!

We have the right to blow their ears by honking like mad but not to touch them... Talking of ears, I have a feeling that bovines have not a very developed hearing... Coupled with an overdeveloped nonchalance and you have it… huge traffic jams!

But in the first place, why are they in the streets? 

You can find the cows that belong to temples (they are sacred remember).

But most of them belong to ‘urban farmers’ who provide the daily fresh milk Indians are fond of (because of habit, taste and cost).

And why do their owners leave them in the streets? Because it reduces their food budget! On the one hand they eat garbage (organic waste and not so organic (a downward slide of modernization)) and on the other hand they get fed by people (accomplishing the good deed of feeding a God!).) They gather them for milking...

One might wonder why we see less she-buffaloes roaming around on their own (whereas they are also in the cities where you can see them walking in herds)? They would be dumber than cows and have more difficulties finding their shelter and master...

And then there are the old cows. Which are of no more use. And as it is forbidden to euthanize them, their owners prefer to abandon them in the streets. In addition to this legal explanation, there is also a religious dimension: “Higher castes consider the body of the dead cow polluting; if they do handle it, they must go through a rite of purification.”*

What happens to them then? The out-casts (lower than the low castes), the Untouchables, are called to the rescue to haul away the carcass from which they will take the meat and skin to make leather... 

* http://sociology101.net/readings/Indias-sacred-cow.pdf

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/from-city-street-to-steakhouse-inside-indias-bullish-beef-market/article9103361/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/how-indias-sacred-cows-are-beaten-abused-and-poisoned-to-make-leather-for-high-street-shops-724696.html