Publisher's Synopsis
Milk flows through our history as a vital human food. Yet it is a uniquely vulnerable commodity, and while in some cultures it was considered a luxury food, in others it was thought both unwholesome and unhealthy. Dairying has always been mainly women's work, and the folklore surrounding the subject highlights the part women play in the production of milk and milk products, and its importance in the household and farm economy. As producers and processors of milk, women are credited with supernatural power to protect or promote, harm or hinder the dairying process. This volume contains the fruits of the Ninth International Conference on Ethnological Food Research, and it should be of interest not only to ethnologists, folklorists and food historians, but also to all those concerned with the role of basic foods in the human diet.
