Did you know that people in many parts of the world get sick when drinking milk or eating yoghurt? Is pasta and yoghurt a normal or a weird meal for you? Food and drinks are a big aspect of culture, and it is only logical that one specific thing is different in every country. Sometimes we are so deep in our own cultural kitchen that we do not know what other people’s kitchens look like. Dairy products are different in every part of the world, even though it all starts with the same thing: milk.

Humans started drinking milk around 6,000 years ago. Many people survived hunger with the help of milk, which contains many nutrients like calcium and vitamin D. Especially for the people in the northern hemisphere, milk was a game changer since there is not that much sun. But there was a problem. Milk contains a special type of sugar called lactose. To get energy from milk and to ensure that the body can digest milk properly, lactose has to be broken down into glucose and galactose. The body needs a special enzyme called lactase to do this. Children have this enzyme, but many adults do not. The body gets rid of it since adults usually do not drink milk (from their mothers) anymore. People without this lactase have lactose intolerance and get sick when they drink milk or dairy products. When people started drinking milk in the past, evolution gave some of their descendants lactase persistence. They have lactase and can consume milk products without any problems.

Some populations have a higher frequency of lactase persistence than others do. Even though India is the largest milk consumer in the world, Europe is THE place for milk and yoghurt. Only 28% of the population has lactose intolerance. In places like Africa, Asia, and South America, around 90% of the people are lactose intolerant. One reason for this is the higher temperatures. Dairy products last longer in colder temperatures than in warm ones. Another reason is that nomadic groups didn’t have the capacity to store milky products. Since there were many of those in Africa and Asia, they did not consume as much milk and therefore do not have the gene that produces the enzyme lactase.

In places like in Europe where many people have high lactase persistence, dairy products get consumed the most. But even within Europe, there are many different ways in which people eat dairy products.

A white cream, which can be thick or fluid, salty or neutral, depending on where you are in the world, the experience can be very different. We are talking about the one and only yoghurt. “I think the whole concept of  yoghurt is different within cultures.” -says Ece, our former Turkish volunteer. “I cannot think of a meal that I could not eat without yoghurt.”

When you add specific bacteria to milk and store it for many hours at warm temperatures, you get a thickened milk that we call yoghurt. During the fermentation process, lacid acid is produced, which changes the protein structure of the milk. The new texture makes the yoghurt longer-lasting.

In Denmark, the yoghurt is liquid enough so it can flow out of a tetra package. Yoghurt in Germany has a solid consistency, so you can eat it with a spoon together with cereal, etc. Other different milk products, like Quark, Frischkäse, or Skyr, are also very common. They have different ingredients, and people eat them on bread or as ingredients in cakes. In Germany, you mostly only find solid yoghurt, which is similar to pavlaka here in Macedonia.

Other concepts of yoghurt were strange to me before I came to Macedonia. For me, a German, is it unusual that you drink yoghurt or eat it as a sauce for dishes? While I was in Germany, I ate pasta with yoghurt and tomato sauce. A Turkish person made it for me, and I was convinced that that was the weirdest way to eat yoghurt. That is different in the Mediterranean region. With hot temperatures, it is nice to add something light and cold to the meal. “We eat Yoghurt with basically everything. It is an essential ingredient for sauces or the sauce itself. Everyone eats pasta with yoghurt as a sauce.” -says Ece.

Consuming milk started as a necessity to survive. Back in the day, people were lactose intolerant and got sick from drinking milk, but with time, people gained the ability to digest lactose properly. Especially in Europe, the majority consume milk and yoghurt. Dairy products are now an important part of many culinary experiences. I looked into other people’s kitchens and I would say it definitely brightened my horizon. I like drinking yoghurt now, but I am still uncertain about the pasta with  yoghurt. And who knows, maybe someday yoghurt will take over the world. 

Fiona Schaumann

Sources: 

How to Make Your Own Yogurt Starter Culture – Yogurt Nerd

Why humans have evolved to drink milk (bbc.com) 

Lactose Intolerance: Why Most Asian People Are Lactose Intolerant? (scienceabc.com)

Milk Consumption by Country 2024 (worldpopulationreview.com)