Canned Milk and Mexican Crema

Veracruz is one of Mexico’s foremost dairy states. Traveling along on almost any road, you pass the occasional pasture of grazing cows, often the hump-shouldered East Indian zebus that are thought to do best in a torrid climate. The care and feeding of the animals is very backward by the standards of the United States, where computerized rations and untiring efforts to increase the volume of milk per cow are the norm. As a result, fresh milk tastes richer and better in Ve-racruz. But much of it is not drunk fresh. This is one of the best cheese-making areas of Mexico and also produces a lot of butter and commercial as well as artisanal ice cream. Cream is used fresh for some purposes, but when you see the word crema in a local recipe, you can usually assume that it means the delicious Mexican and Central American–style cultured cream.