Cottage Cheese – Favorited in Bodybuilding

In 1848, the term ‘cottage cheese’ was coined and used to refer to fresh cheese made in cottages (or homes) using excess milk left-over from butter making.

Cottage cheese has mild taste, soft, and snowy white in color. It looks creamy and chunky, especially when curds are large. It is made from curdled fresh milk; then strained and seasoned with desired herbs. Although cottage cheese has a bland flavor, individuals with sensitive palates often find out it has an acquired taste, especially when eaten alone.

There are many ways of eating cottage cheese. Do not just ‘plop’ it on lettuce leaves or ‘slap’ it on a toast. With a bit of imagination, a bowl of sliced ripe bananas or assorted fruit bits will add exciting flavors to scoops of plain cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is added in lasagna, stuffed manicotti, jello salads, shake drink, and granola.

Because cottage cheese is packed with muscle-building protein and unbelievably low-fat, bodybuilders and weightlifters favorited cottage cheese as important ingredient to snacks, meals, and desserts. As a milk product, cottage cheese has high-calcium content. It is so healthy, more pregnant women preferred it over other calcium-rich foods.

Cottage cheese is traditionally drained and ‘not pressed’. Because whey is still present, curds are loose and have crumble-look. If sweet-tasting curd cheese is desired, the curd is washed. To add flavor, the cheese is mixed with pineapple or melon. Some producers include snipped chives or just leave some acid the cheese to give it tangy taste.

Of course, cottage cheese can be ‘pressed’ to make it look solid but still soft. It can be dry or moist. It is not aged so it should be consumed within ten days or less.

Check the labels. Some manufacturers use skim milk to make non- and low-fat cottage cheese. Some add 4-8 percent cream to make creamed cottage cheese. Do not forget to check the expiry date, too. Store the cottage cheese in the coldest part of the refrigerator and consume it within 10 days after date of manufacture.

Rennet – is a complex of enzymes, naturally produced by the body to enable digestion of milk. It contains ‘protease’ (proteolytic enzyme) that causes milk coagulation, which separates solids from liquids named respectively: curd and whey. Other sources of rennet are vegetables (fig, soybeans, nettles, thistles, mallow, Ground Ivy, and many more) and molds (like Rhizomucor miehei). Rennet helps shorten the process of cheesemaking and produces low-acid large-curd cheese.

Curd is the solid part of milk that appears after curdling (milk coagulation). Curds are the desired dairy product that is made to cottage cheese (and other types of cheese like quark). Casein, the proteins in milk, tangles into solid masses and produces cheese curds when acid is introduced into the milk and left to sour.

Whey (or milk plasma) is the liquid part of milk that get separated after curdling. It is another product made from cheese production. Whey is commercially used to produce brown cheeses, ricotta,and other food products. Whey contains protein, vitamins, minerals, lactose,and traces of fat.