Image by: Laura Spero

Reporter Laura Spero looks for giu while Aamaa watches in the background...with a smile.

Churning Milk in Nepal

From: Laura Spero
Series: What's Cooking
Length: 04:42

Let's talk about locally produced food--you've never had milk like this. In the village of Kaskikot, Nepal, Aamaa shows reporter Laura Spero how to churn buffalo milk to make two traditional, staple dairy products: giu, or clarified butter, and mui, a thin, sour yogurt drink. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: Churning Milk in Nepal
From: Laura Spero

Img_0225_small The diet in Kaskikot, Nepal is simple and repetitive: rice, vegetables, lentils, and some occasional meat. So milk and its products play a critical nutritional role here. Laura Spero has been traveling to Nepal since 2002, living with a woman whom she calls Aamaa; in this piece, which was originally produced for the World Vision Report's "What's Cooking" Series, Aamaa and Laura churn fermented milk to make clarified butter and tangy "mui."

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Piece Description

The diet in Kaskikot, Nepal is simple and repetitive: rice, vegetables, lentils, and some occasional meat. So milk and its products play a critical nutritional role here. Laura Spero has been traveling to Nepal since 2002, living with a woman whom she calls Aamaa; in this piece, which was originally produced for the World Vision Report's "What's Cooking" Series, Aamaa and Laura churn fermented milk to make clarified butter and tangy "mui."

Broadcast History

World Vision Report, July 25, 2009

Transcript

AMBI 1 - [ Early morning sounds, footsteps, etc]

TRACK 1 - Every morning, when life along this mountain ridge is still muted and pastel-colored, Aamaa gets up before I do, and goes outside to milk the buffalo.

AMBI 2 - [Clunking of pots, fire, Moving things, fire, baby, etc.]

TRACK 2 - By the time I roll out of bed, she’s already put the fresh milk over a fire in the kitchen. But even after it’s boiled, milk only stays good for about a day. So most of it gets fermented into yogurt. And then, every few days Aamaa churns that yogurt into two foods called mui and giu.

ACT 1 - After you churn yogurt, you get mui and giu.

TRACK 3 - That’s what we’re doing this morning. Aamaa’s getting out a variety of small containers made from mud or wood, each containing milk that’s been fermenting for a few days. They’re filled with thick, gloppy yogurt.

AMBI 3 - [gloppy sounds]

TRACK 4 -...
Read the full transcript

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

The village of Kaskikot [cass-kee-COAT) looks out over the Himalayan mountains in Nepal. People here live off subsistence rice farming, and milk provides a critical source of nutrients. But not the way you’re used to drinking it! For the last six years, reporter Laura Spero has made regular visits to Kaskikot. And when she does, she lives with a woman she calls Aamaa, or mother. On an early fall morning, they're going to explain how to churn fermented milk.

OUTRO: