Human Milk Cheese

Chef Daniel Angerers took his art to a new level when he saw the stored milk meant for his infant daughter going down the drain. As a chef, he could see the potential for this human product to be used in much the same way milk from other animals is made. He hasn't just made cheese, however. He has placed the cheese as a centerpiece in lavish presentations one would expect from a high end restaurant; "mommy's milk cheese with beets and romaine", or "rolled in dehydrated porcini mushroom powder with burned onion chutney."

Of course, many people find this disgusting. Research on what people find disgusting and why goes back as far as Charles Darwin (yep, Darwin). Recent researchers tend to think that while disgust may be an emotional reaction to things, such as foods, that may harm us, much of it comes from learned reactions to objects. Certain categories of things tend to be particularly likely to cause disgust. These include food, animals, body products, sexual deviance, body envelope violations, and death. In addition there are moral forms of disgust that come from certain violations of what are considered acceptable behaviors, such as incest, and unfair treatment.

This case of mother's milk cheese is a like a triple whammy. It comes out of a body hole, from a human animal, may have a sexual connotation, may be unacceptable because it is like taking milk from a specific baby. Moreover, the sacred relationship between a mother and a baby is sullied by this processing the pure milk into mundane cheese. Finally, its presentation is jarring. We don't expect this ingredient in a quality restaurant meal. So it contaminates the entire category by its very existence.

See more at http://chefdanielangerer.typepad.com/chef_daniel_angerers_blog/2010/02/mommys-milk.html