_Butter._--Containing as it does a considerable proportion of unaltered milk and whey, butter is open to the same dangers as the milk from which it is prepared, and it is therefore equally risky to obtain it from uncertain sources, so that, where these are doubtful, it is better to have it made in the house.
Butter can be easily made on a small scale, by shaking cream in a wide-mouthed bottle, or by beating it with a fork, and as it tastes none the worse for being made from boiled milk, and the poorness or otherwise of the latter only affects the yield of butter, there is no need of any great caution as to the source of supply for this purpose. It should be needless to remark that all vessels used for setting the cream and for other purposes in the process should be kept scrupulously clean, and be frequently scalded, as success is impossible without minute precautions in this respect.
Buffalo milk is nearly twice as rich as the milk of even the best humped cattle, and is therefore to be preferred for the purpose of making butter. There is a silly prejudice against the use of buffalo milk among Europeans in India, but it is really far superior to that supplied by the local breeds of cattle, even when well fed and carefully kept, and the only objection that can be fairly raised to butter made from it, is its absolute whiteness, which, however, is easily modified by the addition of a little harmless colouring matter. I have often been much amused at guests remarking on the excellence of the butter they were eating, who were convinced they could detect the least taste of “that nasty buffalo butter,” which in reality they were consuming with the greatest gusto all the while. In spite of her uncouth appearance, the buffalo cow is a nicer feeder than are the Indian humped cattle, and it is well known that the flavour of milk is greatly affected by the character of the animal’s food.
Tinned butter is generally quite wholesome, but is, strictly speaking, not butter at all, but _ghi_, as the material is necessarily melted in the process of tinning.
_Cheese._--I cannot recall any instance of cheese being incriminated as a carrier of disease. This product is really the result of the action of certain special microbes on milk; and it is probable that any micro-organisms of a dangerous character that may chance to be present in the milk employed in its manufacture, are crowded out and destroyed during the vegetative changes that determine the production of cheese. Tinned cheese, though often of inferior flavour, is usually quite wholesome, and is quite good enough for made dishes. Used as cheese is by the Italian housewife as a flavouring agent rather than a food, it may be used in the concoction of a great variety of dishes having macaroni, rice, or vegetables as their basis, and is invaluable used in this way to impart a variety to the rather scanty menu available during the hotter months, when eatable meat is often almost unobtainable; and from considerations of health, it is desirable to reduce the amount of this form of nourishment.