It's No Use Crying...

{Someday, I'm going to post one of these on a Friday again...promise. Or eventually, I'll work my way through the week and back to Friday again.}

To continue our tour through Fun French Facts*... If you look to your left, you will see:

The Milk Aisle

You'll notice the lack of refrigeration.

That's right. It's not refrigerated. In France, almost all the milk is UHT (Ultra-High Temperature) Processed. It doesn't need to be refrigerated until it's opened.  It's magic milk, created through science that I don't fully understand, but which involves heating the milk way above boiling for a few seconds.

Then it can live on the shelf for 6 to 9 months. I know what you're thinking because it's the same thing I thought at first: eww. Most people in the United States are used to connecting milk with cold. But with all the microbes killed, it's perfectly safe.

But this processing method hasn't caught on in the States, probably because most people there share this presumption about milk.  Some people in France say it tastes just the same as pasteurized milk, and it is very similar, but I'm ridiculously picky about my milk and how "thick" it tastes.

Things I have used my UHT milk for: tea, cereal, cooking.
Times it made me gag: When I tried to make chocolate milk.
(However, it was also not skim milk, which might have played some part in the gagging.)

So I shop for my milk in the tiny refrigerated milk section:

But this means I miss out on the fun of buying milk in boxes.

Think how much easier this must be to transport. Also, you can buy five or six boxes at once, keep them in the pantry and never worry about running out of milk after the stores close at 7pm.

What do you think? Would you ever drink this milk? Or at least try it?

*Credit goes to my good friend, B, for the non-Friday alliterative title.