Milk

In the US, when we wanted milk, we would go to the store, stand in front of a very large section of the store that was behind glass doors. It was refrigerated. We would choose whether to spend our $4 – $5 on whole, skim, 1%, 2%, chocolate, no fat, store brand, or name brand milk. It came in gallon or 1/2 gallon jugs, or quart or 1/2 gallon paper containers. Sometimes you could find pints or 1/2 pints too. We would make this, most of the time, our last stop at the store (even though it was all the way in the back) and our last stop of the day. That way, we could go home and get the milk in the fridge before it got warm. Get it warm and it would last less than the week or so on the drink by/sell by date. We’d never buy milk sitting out in the middle of the store.

Well, here in Serbia (and most of the rest of the world I would imagine) you don’t buy fresh pasturized milk. You buy UHT milk. What is UHT milk? Basically, instead of just removing some of the microorganisims in the milk (like pasturezation), everything is killed in the milk. For more than that, follow the link to the wikipedia article. What’s that mean? Well, basically, until it is opened, you can keep it on the shelf. For months! (Yes, I know you can keep fresh milk for months in the freezer and just thaw and shake when you are ready to use it, but…it isn’t the same). So, basically this is trez convienient. You can go to the store, buy milk, and shop the rest of the day and not worry about your milk.

Does it tase bad? Well, it doesn’t taste the same, but it isn’t gag-you-to-death like powdered milk.