The ebb and flow

We've had to make a slight change to the Buffalo Milk Lemon Myrtle Anglaise that goes with our Christmas pudding.

For good and natural reasons, there isn’t enough buffalo milk available right now for our Anglaise, so instead we’re making it with full cream, pastured Jersey milk from Gippsland Dairy.

We couldn’t have anticipated that this year there wouldn’t be enough spare milk left over after mozzarella production, but we’ve tested the recipe and are confident that the Anglaise is just as silky and delicious with Jersey milk as it is with buffalo milk, so fortunately this is one of those situations where Plan B ends up being as good as Plan A.

Here’s why Burraduc don’t have extra milk.

In every natural system there are seasonal pauses because all living things need to rest and recuperate. Humans sleep at night, tomatoes don't ripen til summer, apples are best in winter and there isn't much Burraduc buffalo milk in summer because every year, as the days lengthen, the cows follow their instinct and shut up shop to have a well-earned break before the next fertility cycle.

The cows couldn't care less that we want milk for our Christmas Anglaise or that summer is when there's peak demand for Burraduc's fabulous products!

Buffalo are seasonal breeders, so as the weather cools and the days get shorter, the cows start to cycle again and, after a long gestation of up to 330 days, calves are born in Autumn and Winter, producing an abundance of milk to share with the Swegens to make their award-winning mozzarella, feta, Dolce Nina and yoghurt.

Demand for these delicious products is high all year round so the Swegens try to extend the season so that there are calves on the ground in Spring and early Summer and milk to share with the dairy. But because they run a compassionate, non-interventionist dairy model that works with, not against, natural systems, there's not a lot they can or want to do to alter the cows’ natural cycling and calving programme.

Also, the more the cows are left to their own devices, the happier and calmer the herd and the better the milk quality.

The moral of the story is that if we want to enjoy delicious, nutritious food, we need to accept and celebrate these seasonal pauses which are authentic proof that nature isn’t being tampered with. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.