Milks - update

[Benjamin Barrett]

On Dec 30, 2011, at 7:53 AM, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:

> On Fri, Dec 30, 2011 at 10:43:36AM BB wrote:
>>
>> According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond_milk, almond milk is
>> made from ground almonds. Similarly,
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp_milk says that hemp milk or hemp
>> seed milk is made from ground hemp seeds.
>>
>> The OED has "almond-milk" (time to drop the hyphen, perhaps), but no
>> definition. Looking at the relevant definition of milk, it seems a
>> little out-of-date:
>>
>> -----
>> A milky juice or latex present in the stems or other parts of various
>> plants, which exudes when the plant is cut, and is often acrid,
>> irritant, or toxic. Also: spec. the drinkable watery liquid found in
>> the hollow space inside the fruit of the coconut.
>> -----
>>
>> Probably the most common substitute milks for coffee lattes are soy
>> and rice. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_milk, soy milk
>> is made by grinding, and according to
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_milk, rice milk is made by pressing.
>
> If you keep moving down to sense 5.a., you'll get what is actually the
> relevant definition here: "A culinary, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, or
> other preparation resembling milk, esp. in colour. Usually with the
> principal ingredient or use specified by a preceding or following word."
> This is followed by cross-references to _soya milk_ (not, at the moment,
> _soy milk_), _almond milk_ (which is, indeed, extremely out of date,
> though it is currently under revision, and has a detailed definition and
> a good quotation paragraph) and _rice milk_.

As almond, rice and soya milks are listed, peanut milk might be a good candidate as well.

George Washington Carver is known for making "Jersey" quality peanut milk (http://ow.ly/8eshM), something I recall from a biography I read of him in elementary school. According to the Wikipedia article on him (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Carver), Carver was active in promoting it in 1919 even though a patent had been granted to someone else in 1917.

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

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