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Buttermilk Cheese
To make the buttermilk cheese, heat buttermilk gradually to about 130 or 140 degrees F. Allow it to cool, and strain it. As the curd will settle to the bottom, most of the whey may be poured off before the draining is begun. This cheese is, of course, almost wholly without fat, and yet, probably because the particles of curd are very finely divided, it has a smooth consistency, which suggests the presence of fat. It may be served seasoned with salt only, or it may be mixed with butter or cream and seasonings. It is suitable for combining with olives and pimientos, or for any use to which the ordinary cream cheeses are put.
An acid-set fresh cheese that makes itself: the lactic acid already in cultured buttermilk does the work of rennet, and gentle heat simply tightens the curd. The whole thing is a straining exercise once the milk has been warmed.
- The hinge: do not let it get hot130-140F is warm to the finger, not steaming. Heat much beyond that and the curd tends to contract, going grainy and squeaky instead of smooth. Use a thermometer and a heavy pan, or a bowl set over hot water.
- Which buttermilkThe book may mean the liquid left from churning butter; supermarket cultured buttermilk (pasteurized skim milk soured with a lactic starter) will curdle in the same way and is the practical choice. Reconstituted buttermilk powder may not be acid enough to break cleanly.
- Do not stirAgitation while the curd is forming shatters it into fines that pass straight through the cloth. Warm it, leave it alone, cool it, then ladle.
- StrainingFine butter muslin or a doubled square of cheesecloth in a sieve; standard loose-weave cheesecloth will lose a good deal of curd. Pour off the clear whey first as instructed, then let it drain 2 to 6 hours depending on whether you want a spooning or a spreading consistency.
- YieldExpect only a few ounces of drained curd from a quart of buttermilk, which is meagre by modern expectations; a half gallon is a more sensible starting quantity for a batch worth flavouring.
- Why it tastes leanThe note about fat is accurate: this is essentially a skim-milk quark, tangy and chalky-clean. Salt it well, and a spoonful of cream or softened butter beaten in transforms the mouthfeel more than the quantity suggests.
- KeepingNo salt cure, no rind, no rennet: treat it as you would fresh ricotta. Refrigerate at once and use within three or four days. The whey is worth saving for bread dough or soup.
Fresh acid-curd cheeses of this kind are the oldest and least ceremonious sort there is, made wherever milk was left to sour. Under one name or another the same thing appears across northern Europe as quark, tvorog or crowdie, and in American farm kitchens simply as smearcase or Dutch cheese. The suggestion to combine it with olives and pimientos places the book squarely in its era, when pimiento-studded cheese spreads were a fashionable way to fill a sandwich or a celery stalk.