Cottage Cheese

Cottage Cheese is found in Jewish Cuisines, along with similar cheeses in its class, and in many other international Cuisines. I decided to explore its Jewish roots along with related cheeses.

In Jewish Cuisines, cottage cheese is usually associated with the diaspora and has been used in Jewish recipes since the 1800s, mostly in Ashkenazi recipes. While not a product of the Jewish culture, it has a long association with it, along with its first cousins pot and farmer cheese.

Cottage cheese is part of the "fresh cheese" family, which means it doesn't undergo the aging process that other cheeses do. It's also an acid-coagulated cheese; a  process that uses some type of acid, i.e. vinegar, lemon juice, to coagulate milk.

It's made by heating whole fresh milk, adding vinegar, stirring until curds form, and draining the curds, usually in a cheesecloth bag.

The origin of cottage cheese is cloudy, but most food historians agree it can be traced back to around 5,000 BC. Nomadic tribes in the Middle East and Eastern Europe are believed to have discovered how to curdle milk to make a simple food source. 

In Europe, farmers made fresh farmhouse cheeses for centuries by separating curds from whey in naturally soured milk. Immigrants brought the tradition of fresh cheesemaking to America, and the term "cottage cheese" entered the American vocabulary by the mid-1800s. The term is believed to have originated because the simple cheese was usually made in cottages. While usually made from cow's milk, it's also made from goat, sheep, and even water buffalo milk.

So while it really has no Jewish roots, it does have a place in its cuisines.

Here's a recipe for cottage cheese I found in  The Jewish Cookbook, Mildred Grosberg Bellin, Bloch Publishing, 1950

“COTTAGE CHEESE (POT CHEESE)

Heat sour milk slowly until the whey rises to the top; pour it off, put the curd in a bag and let it dry for 6 hours without squeezing it. Pour it into a bowl and break it fine with a wooden spoon. Season with salt. Mold into balls and keep in a cool place. It is best when fresh.

Cottage Cheese Family

Cottage Cheese - Predominantly cows milk 

• Uses Skin or Non-fat milk
• Many versions based on fat percentage, curd size, and amount of moisture. 
• The dry version is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Farmer or Pot Cheese. 
• There's also a rare whipped version that is smooth with some graininess.

Pot Cheese - Pot cheese falls between cottage cheese and farmer cheese and is usually cows milk,  

• Has larger curds and a thicker consistency than Cottage Cheese. 
• Not easy to find 

Farmer Cheese - the European (Baltics) version is more moist than the American version and closer to Pot cheese. It's usually cows milk. 

• It's made from pressed cottage cheese that is slightly more acidic and has a firmer texture. 
• Still widely available.

Queso Blanco - It's origin is Mexico. 

• Not to be confused with the dip served in restaurants, which is usually made from processed white American cheese with added spices.
• Slightly firm and more tangy, it resembles its hard cheese cousin, Queso Fresco.
• Does not melt just softens.

Cream Cheese (United States) - Predominantly cows milk

• Smooth and semi-firm, spreads easily. Also found whipped and flavored. Slightly tangy. Softens but does not melt.
• According to historian Gil Marks, Eastern European Jews swapped cream cheese for pot cheese in their traditional recipes.
• The ubiquitous “schmear”.

Cottage Cheese Cousins

There are many international fresh, white cheeses that look like the cottage cheese family, but are not acid coagulated. They use rennet, an animal based enzyme, to coagulate the milk and form curds. They  include Basket Cheese (Mediterranean), Ricotta Cheese (Italy) , Feta Cheese (Greece), and Queso Fresco (Mexico).