Are foods without added sugar, spices and colorants better?
Growing up in the city, I never thought about how the dairy products I ate every day were produced, until I joined a land administration service team in university and interviewed an obscure little dairy farm in Houli, Taichung, where I unexpectedly tasted real yogurt… The farm owner said that the big-brand dairy products commonly seen on the market are mostly bought up from small farms. Because each farm feeds its cows different ingredients, the milk varies in flavor and quality, so it must undergo industrial processing to be adjusted to a uniform composition. The thick, fragrant taste comes partly from added cream, milk powder, or other additives, which is how each brand ends up with its own characteristic, and unnaturally rich, texture.
The farm owner suggested we try the farm-made ice pops, and kindly reminded us that because there are no additives, they melt faster. This was the first time I ever ate a 100% pure natural dairy frozen treat! As the ice melted in my mouth, it was like drinking water with a milky fragrance, and it felt thirst-quenching. I exclaimed that this was what natural milk flavor really tastes like, and kept saying how delicious it was! Thinking back to commercial branded frozen treats, after eating them you need to rinse your mouth or drink some water to get rid of the overly heavy milk taste in your mouth. I can't help but say: natural is the best!!
Perhaps because we hit it off and were chatting happily, the farm owner even invited us to his home to taste his own fermented, additive-free yogurt. He said proudly, we all eat this with natural jam for breakfast! It was the first time I ate 100% pure natural yogurt. As I swallowed it, my mouth watered naturally, and a faint milky fragrance lingered between my teeth, with no heaviness at all. It suddenly struck me that the yogurt and drinking yogurt sold on the market are too sweet and contain too many additives bad for health; eating them is actually a burden on the body. Later I tasted that natural texture I remembered at the "National Chung Hsing University internship store," "Chulu Ranch," a grocery store at the foot of the mountain, "Grandma Sara's handmade yogurt," and various little dairy farms.
At the Taipei Earth Day green market, I tasted "Sifang" drinking yogurt. Because no emulsifying stabilizer or sugar was added to blend it, it looked a bit lumpy, with the water and milk not blending together, and it didn't taste like a beverage. Once again it stirred up the emotion I felt years ago when I first tasted natural milky fragrance at the farm owner's home; the lady beside me, after tasting it, even exclaimed that it tasted very similar to the yogurt she had eaten in Turkey.
Home delivery is very convenient. Sometimes I enjoy it plain, sometimes I mix in some "Shanyejia" honey, or pair it with the mulberry jam my mother's friend picked and boiled herself. Tasting the original flavor of food is truly blissful, and I feel fortunate that there are these dairy farms that preserve natural flavors.
This is my first post, and I hope to promote the idea of eating fewer additives. If you like it, please click ”Encourage the author to keep writing “, thank you everyone!
Baozhu :)