Gatas /milk

We are only 60 miles from Manila, but about 20 years behind the times from there...so I will tell you a story about the culture gap.

About ten years ago, my husband had a stroke and we were living here together while he recovered.

One of his friends from the states was visiting family Manila had heard he was sick and came up to visit.

I offered them refreshments after their long trip...we had coffee, tea, and coca cola/soft drinks.

Oh, coffee, the wife said.

So I boiled the water and put in the Nescafe instant, gave her the sugar bowl and brought out the milk from the refrigerator.
The milk had a thick layer of cream on it, and she looked at it aghast...what type of milk is that? she asked (cows milk is usually tinned and imported, or one uses Coffeemate).
Oh, it's local milk from waterbuffalo, I replied naively.
She turned green and asked: Could I have softdrink?

They are starting a dairy industry here (since Brahman cows thrive in India, one would think that this would be a good business...however, although the business is starting here, much of the milk still is imported from New Zealand.

But our cook goes to the market each morning and buys a plastic bag (!) filled with water buffalo milk...comes home and boils it for our consumption.

It's sweet and higher in cream than cows milk...
It's a bit expensive, and not much cheaper than the UV preserved milk in cartons we can buy...

But supporting the local industry is important, and it tastes better.