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.
Who Eats Cottage Cheese?
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.
How to Make Cheese
Pressed Cottage Cheese Often Gets Different Names:
Farmer Cheese
| also called ‘farmer’s cheese’ or ‘farmers’ cheese’; made from pressed cottage cheese for a longer period until it becomes dry and crumbly and solid
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Fromage Frais
| or “fresh cheese” that originated from Belgium and France (northern); also known as fromage blanc and maquee; pure fromage cheese is totally fat-free
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Hoop Cheese
| made from cottage cheese (with no salt and cream) and then pressed until dry and firm; also referred to as old-fashioned red rind cheese and country cheese
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Kesong Puti
| or “white cheese” that originated in the Philippines; made from fresh (unskimmed) carabao’s milk and rennet with salt to give flavor; soft and creamy kesong puti is often eaten as bread filling for breakfast
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Paneer
| non-melting paneer is unaged and acid-set farmer cheese, which is popular ingredient in South Asian cuisine
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Pot Cheese
| soft and crumbly cottage cheese; the Austrian ‘topfen’ (means pot cheese) is another term for Quark cheese; pot cheese is not easy to find in stores but it is the same with ricotta, cream cheese, and queso blanco
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Quark Cheese
| made from pressed cottage cheese; also known as curd cheese, tvarog (Slavik), twarog (Polish), or topfen (Austrian); in Germany, lean quark is for baking and cream quark is for desserts
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Queso Blanco
| or white cheese that originated in Spain; made from cottage cheese pressed to remove whey; similar to the Indian paneer and feta cheese (with mild taste); queso blanco gives creaminess to Mexican dishes like enchiladas and empanadas
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Types of Cottage Cheese
Small-Curd
| high acid content and produced without rennet
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Large-Curd
| low acid content and produced with rennet
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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.
Making fresh cheese, part 1
Making fresh cheese, part 2
How to make cottage cheese and benefits of eating cottage cheese
What is Rennet?
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.
Making Cottage Cheese
What is Curd?
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.
Homemade Cottage Cheese (Paneer)
What is Whey?
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.
Related Links
- cottage cheese: Definition from Answers.com
cottage cheese n. A soft white cheese made of strained and seasoned curds of skim milk. Also called pot cheese , ; also called regionally Dutch cheese - What is Cottage Cheese?
Brief and Straightforward Guide: What is Cottage Cheese? - Cottage cheese - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cottage cheese is a cheese curd product with a mild flavor. It is drained, but not pressed so some whey remains and the individual curds remain loose. The curd is usually washed to remove acidity giving sweet curd cheese. It is not aged or colored. - Cottage Cheese Recipes
Cottage Cheese Recipe Page - Healthy, Low Carb Cottage Cheese Recipes