continental and northern Europe, thanks to
abundant pastureland ideal for cattle, and a
temperate climate that allowed long, gradual
fermentations.
The one major region of the Old World not
to embrace dairying was China, perhaps
because Chinese agriculture began where the
natural vegetation runs to often toxic relatives
of wormwood and epazote rather than
ruminant-friendly grasses. Even so, frequent
contact with central Asian nomads introduced
a variety of dairy products to China, whose
elite long enjoyed yogurt, koumiss, butter,
acid-set curds, and, around 1300 and thanks to
the Mongols, even milk in their tea!
Dairying was unknown in the New World.
On his second voyage in 1493, Columbus
brought sheep, goats, and the first of the
Spanish longhorn cattle that would proliferate
in Mexico and Texas.
Milk in Europe and America: From