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I'd like to make an exhaustive list of the various animals whose milk humans drink. Here's the ones I can think of:

  • human
  • cow
  • goat
  • sheep
  • camel
  • yak
  • buffalo
  • donkey/ass

Any others? If so, where?

J.A.I.L.
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Michael Natkin
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  • @Michael: I switched this to CW. All questions asking for a list should be marked as such. – hobodave Aug 13 '10 at 04:29
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    @Michael: What purpose does this serve besides being a list of milk? If it's just a list of milk, is that really useful? – hobodave Aug 13 '10 at 04:55
  • Hey hobodave - should questions that ask for a list but have a definitive answer be CW? I think there is a finite set of milks that humans drink, so there is an actual answer here, not just a list of opinions. (I'm find with it being CW, just want to understand for future ref). The purpose I had in mind was to make myself aware of foods that I'd be interested in trying but haven't yet had the opportunity to. – Michael Natkin Aug 13 '10 at 05:26
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    @Michael: Yes. I don't think this list is as concise as you think. Unless by finite you mean less than or equal to the total number mammal species. :P Nearly any list is finite given a large enough set of data. I don't think finiteness has a bearing on whether lists should be CW. The "list" typically refers to the format of the answers. A user answering this can quite simply say "Walrus" and that be a valid answer. This results in a long list of all completely valid answers. The CW provides the ability for those to be edited into the question itself as a form of index. – hobodave Aug 13 '10 at 06:00
  • It also prevents the disproportionate rep explosions that can occur from 50+ people up-voting the answer "Walrus" just because it's so exotic and cool. – hobodave Aug 13 '10 at 06:01
  • Makes sense on the list explanation! – Michael Natkin Aug 13 '10 at 06:21
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    I don't see any problem with this question in theory... seems valid enough. – Noldorin Aug 13 '10 at 08:57
  • @Michael Two recommendations: 1) encourage users to combine all of the answers into a single place (either your question, or one answer) 2) ask for taste-notes, nutrition differences, cooking differences among the different animals. – Ocaasi Aug 13 '10 at 12:30
  • Every morning I walk on to the Savannah to milk a lion. It's delicious. – yossarian Aug 13 '10 at 15:17
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    *Holly:* Nothing wrong with dog's milk. Full of goodness, full of vitamins, full of marrowbone jelly. Lasts longer than any other type of milk, dog's milk. *Lister:* Why? *Holly:* No bugger'll drink it. And the advantage of dog's milk is that when it goes off it tastes exactly the same as when it's fresh. *(Red Dwarf, "Kryten")* – Joe Aug 13 '10 at 15:38

5 Answers5

10

Add to this answer... Who and where, what it tastes like, how it differs, how it's used in cooking...

Human

Where: Worldwide

Uses: Nursing

Cow

Where: Most common source of dairy worldwide

Uses: All dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.)

Goat

Where: India, Bangladesh, Africa, France, common across Europe.

Uses: Milk, cheese

Sheep

Where: Across Europe

Uses: Primarily cheese

Camel

Where: Middle East

Uses: Milk

Note: Camel milk can be an important source of water in extremely arid climates or survival situations. The milk can have a salty taste due to camels' high consumption of sodium.

Yak

Where: South East Asia, Mongolia, Northern China, Tibet, Nepal

Uses: Milk, Cheese, and butter; localized dairy products such as dahi, paneer

Water Buffalo

Where: India, Parts of the Middle East, Southeast Asia, China, South America, Europe (best known in Italy and throughout the Balkan states)

Uses: Milk, yogurt, cheese (mozzarella and others), candy

Note: Water Buffalos are the 2nd most common source of dairy in the world.

Horse

Where: Mongolia

Uses: Kumis (lightly alcoholic fermented drink)

Donkey / Ass

Where: Mediterranean countries

Uses: Milk, yogurt, cosmetic and medical use

Reindeer / Caribou

Where: Scandinavian countries, Mongolia

Uses: Cheese, Butter

Note: Reindeer milk is 22% butterfat and produces extremely rich cream cheese which Lapplanders sometimes use in coffee rather than regular cream.

Moose

Where: Russia and Sweden

Uses: Milk, limited cheese production

Didgeridrew
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Ocaasi
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  • Goat milk is also common in Northern China. – Larry Wang Aug 13 '10 at 15:10
  • I'm not sure if water buffalo (used for mozzerella) and buffalo are the same thing. – Joe Aug 13 '10 at 15:35
  • Wondeful, Ocaasi, thanks for starting the final edit on this. – Michael Natkin Aug 13 '10 at 19:24
  • @Michael Oh no, it took ingenuity to ask for a list of milks. I give you full due. – Ocaasi Aug 13 '10 at 22:10
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    Please add reindeer milk. And (unless you want to edit the question to include "commonly") you'd better add wolves for Romulus and Remus :) – J. Win. Jan 31 '11 at 22:16
  • Goat milk to drink can be found in France in regular plastic bottles in supermarkets. It is usually half-skimmed because this is a very creamy one. – ogerard May 03 '11 at 19:13
  • I can confirm that buffallo milk is extensively used in India too. Its a very creamy, protein rich milk and is used for making curd-based sweets. And feeding youngsters. – immutabl Aug 02 '11 at 23:47
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    Dog milk [is alleged](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Red_Dwarf#Kryten) to last longer than any other type of milk ;) – Peter Taylor May 18 '12 at 14:49
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Oh, I just remembered one more (don't worry, I'll edit it into a index when we seem done). Horse. Popular in Mongolia I believe.

Michael Natkin
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  • It is used for drinking (directly) but also as an ingredient for single fermentation (koumis) or alcoholic fermentation (airag, also called _milk wine_) – ogerard May 03 '11 at 19:15
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Donkey milk is missing from the list.

J.A.I.L.
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    It is, but with community wiki items, you should have enough reputation be able to go and edit the question to add it to the list. – Joe Nov 15 '12 at 00:34
  • I hand't noticed [I could do it by myself](http://stackoverflow.com/privileges/edit-community-wiki). – J.A.I.L. Nov 15 '12 at 08:19
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We drink the milk of walruses and elephants.

hobodave
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    you sir, are a smart ass, hey we drink the milk of those too :) – sarge_smith Aug 13 '10 at 06:16
  • @sarge: we really do! – hobodave Aug 13 '10 at 06:21
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    wanna give us reference / location for those so we can add them to the index above? (or just go ahead and put them in) – Michael Natkin Aug 14 '10 at 20:23
  • I've seen it on the discovery channel. Walrus milk has been consumed by the Inuit people for centuries. The elephant thing was in Africa, I don't remember details. – hobodave Aug 14 '10 at 23:31
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    Interesting... I just tried for awhile to google up some details of either of those things, didn't have any luck so I'm not adding them to the index answer for now. If anyone can locate the info, please add it! – Michael Natkin Aug 16 '10 at 04:46
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Monkey milk is popular in central America.

user29640
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