Friday, December 19, 2008

Little Miss Muffet Sat On A Tuffet, Eating Her Curds And Whey




When I was a kid, we ate cottage cheese all the time. I think it was cheap then. Once, in 4th grade, we took a field trip to the local dairy and saw first hand how it was made. Actually, it looked pretty gross.
According to Wikipedia, cottage cheese is defined as: "Cottage cheese is a cheese curd product with a mild flavor. It is drained, but not pressed so some whey remains. The curd is usually washed to remove acidity giving sweet curd cheese. It is not aged or colored. Different styles of cottage cheese are made from milks with different fat levels and in small curd or large curd preparations. Cottage cheese which is pressed becomes hoop cheese, farmer cheese, pot cheese or queso blanco.

Cottage cheese may be eaten straight. It is also eaten with fruit, with fruit puree, on toast, in green salads, - or as an ingredient in recipes like jello salad and various desserts. It can be used to replace grated cheese or ricotta cheese in most recipes (such as lasagna).

The term "cottage cheese" is believed to have originated because the simple cheese was usually made in cottages from any milk leftover after making butter.[1] The term was first used in 1848.[2] An older term for cottage cheese is curds and whey.
Sometimes my mother would serve the ultimate depression lunch called bread dip. It's just cottage cheese thinned with milk, topped with black pepper and was good for dipping bread. The fancy salad was lettuce, a scoop of cottage cheese with fruit cocktail all around and the cherry on top. Now, that was livin'!
I like it on a baked potato, with saltine crackers and in a scooped out cantaloupe.
High in protein, low in fat, cottage cheese is a great substitute for the higher- fat cheeses. Truly a food of the Gods!

2 comments:

Todd the Toad said...

For some reason I like it best with spaghetti and applesauce. But it's a fascinating food when you think about it.

Anonymous said...

Hi Joyce, found you through Hot Flashbacks, Cool Insights - the other Joyce's blog!

This is a cool way to go retro and give good info at the same time! I'll have to check in often to learn more!

BTW, I'm a peaches and cottage cheese person!

Happy Holidays from the PopArtDiva™