Lait / milk

8 Novembre 2007

Milk is usually pasteurized milk : lait pasteurisé.

French people use a lot of milk. First of all, a typical French breakfast for a child is tartines and a big bowl of hot chocolate that is cocoa powder and milk. Nowadays, a lot of people have cereal for breakfast, so they still need some milk. We also use milk for cooking, for sauces for example (béchamel is a famous white sauce) or we just drink it cold or hot.

Where to find it in a supermarket : as it's pasteurized it is in a completely different section than other dairy products like butter (beurre) or cream (crème). It's packaged in a brick and often has « UHT » written on it : ultra high temperature. It’s usually close to the eggs, flour and sugar.

Once you've found it, open your eyes, basically there are three different types of milk : lait écrémé (skim milk, non-fat milk), lait demi-écrémé (low-fat milk) and lait entier (whole milk). Just choose the amount of fat you want to drink.

How to store it : several weeks before opening (until the DLCO), then a few days in the fridge

Lait frais
Yes it is possible to find fresh milk although you won't find it everywhere, such as in little tiny supermarkets. Use it like pasteurized milk, just drink it cold or hot, with cocoa powder of some sirop de fraise (strawberry syrup).

Where to find it in a supermarket : lait frais is more often in a plastic bottle than in a glass bottle. It's in one liter packaging. It should be in the “rayon frais” refrigerated aisle, close to the butter and yogurts.

How to store it : a few days in the fridge. See the DLUO.

You can also find lait en poudre and organic lait en poudre bio.

Back to the dairy article