I have to admit. Until reading this piece, I’d forgotten all about the slightly yellow milk sold in cafes in Bavaria and Austria in the spring. Löwenzahnmilch they called it. I never asked where it came from and, as the locals seemed to think nothing of it, I never asked.
Now, after reading this, I understand.
I grew up in the “Land of Happy Cows” (LOHCs), i.e. the western part of southern Bavaria. In spring, the meadows there are a solid yellow with flowering dandelion plants. They are so abundant that the butter and cheese produced from the cows grazing in those fields develop a decidedly yellow color, caused by the chemical known as “beta-carotene.” It’s related to the orange color-producing substance in carrots, hence its name.
Believe me, after a long winter of having to live on hay from last year’s harvests, when the season turns to spring and the dandelions are blooming, the cows are really happy then. They take to the solidly dandelion-yellow meadows in force and produce plenty of milk that is the source of the then (once again) yellow butter.
For decades, the European Union countries, collectively produced a “butter mountain,” meaning a large excess that could not be consumed there. But this could change soon, when butter turns to rubber (don’t take it literally).
Dandelion rubber?
The author isn’t kidding.
Read about it @ The Dandelion Windfall
