(soya bean milk) resembles cow's milk in many respects but is produced entirely from the soya bean (see previous entry). In its simplest form it is made by soaking soya beans, grinding them with more water, bringing to the boil, and then filtering. The result is nutritious and digestible but has a taste and odour which is generally disliked by people who are accustomed to dairy milk. The Chinese, who are not so accustomed, have drunk soy milk with pleasure since ancient times. For western people, however, and for the Japanese market, soy milk has to be treated so as to remove its characteristic taste and odour. This process may be accompanied by adding new flavours, often based on fruits, as has happened with yoghurt.
Soy milk is useful to people suffering from lactose intolerance, who cannot drink dairy milk, and also to people who for whatever reason wish to avoid animal fats. The fat in soy milk is unsaturated and there is only about one-third as much of it as there is fat in regular milk (the comparison would be different with semi-skimmed or skimmed milk). The protein content of soy milk is about the same as that of cow's milk.
Soy milk can be used to make milkshakes, blancmange, custards, and sauces, but it would be wrong to assume that it can be used as a milk substitute in every situation, or that from the gastronomic point of view it is ever a completely satisfactory substitute. There are signs that calling it ‘milk’ (as opposed to something like ‘soy bean beverage’) will be ruled out as incorrect in at least some parts of the world.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
