Feel the Churn

The science and history behind the making of butter

I distinctly remember the history unit in fourth grade that taught us about American pioneers and the Westward Expansion for the first time. The unit culminated with all the fourth graders dressing up in old fashioned garb and going on a field trip to a historic site called the Old Wade House.

During the tour, the guides wanted to demonstrate how the pioneers used a butter churn to turn milk into butter. Thinking the churn looked fun, I volunteered to help make the butter, but was I in for a reality check.

Within minutes, the plunger was feeling heavy in my hands and the liquid in the churn still resembled milk!

For the first time in my young life, I appreciated the convenience of the food around me. And it may just be this appreciation that drove me to major in food science many years later.

Long before we ate croissants or bread and butter pudding, an Indian deity — Lord Krishna — was stealing butter as a little boy. The legends of Krishna’s childhood and youth describe him as a mischievous young boy who (of course) plays the flute and charms all who knew him.

Young Krishna, who was very fond of butter, would rope his friends into helping him steal it. The story goes that he would wait until the clay…