Not just cottage cheese: a wide variety of fresh cheeses
Fresh cheese varieties not widely known in Poland
Cheese is one of the most frequently consumed dairy products. These types of dairy products are known all over the world – they are prepared using various methods to achieve a characteristic taste and aroma. In addition to the extremely popular yellow cheese with holes, mold and hard ripened cheese, we also distinguish fresh cheese. What exactly are their characteristics and which varieties of these products are worth reaching for?
Fresh cheese – not only cottage cheese
Fresh cheese is a dairy product whose production process consists in protein coagulation through the action of bacterial cultures, possibly with the use of rennet. In contrast to cheese, for example. hard and mouldy cheeses are not ripened, which shortens not only their production time but also their shelf life. An example of fresh cheese, known and loved in Poland for centuries, is cottage cheese.
This traditional dairy product is made from fatty milk to which lactic acid bacteria (lactobacilli) are added. vaccine. – An employee of Justest, a company offering specialized tests for milk, says. – This produces a curd, which is then cut, heated and stripped of whey and formed”.
Equally popular in our country and a bit similar to cottage cheese is traditional cottage cheese or so called “cottage cheese”. cottage cheese. It is characterized by a grainy texture and the addition of cream. Both quark and cottage cheese, but also other types of fresh cheese, have versatile uses in the kitchen.
Fresh cheeses from around the world
Although we usually reach for domestic dairy products, fresh cheeses from different parts of the world are gaining popularity among our countrymen. Italian products are definitely leading in this respect. Until recently known to only a few, today fresh cheeses originating from sunny Italy gain more and more followers. The queen of dairy products is definitely mozzarella, which is a delicate cheese produced from steamed mass prepared on the basis of pure buffalo or cow milk. Mozzarella cheese can be eaten raw, e.g. as a snack. It can be used in the famous caprese salad as well as hot, e.g. melted on pizza. Less known in Poland, but very similar to mozzarella, fresh cheese from Italy is burrata, which has a characteristic creamy-cream interior. Other Italian fresh cheeses that are gaining popularity in our country include mascarpone famous for its velvety texture ideal for making desserts and ricotta, resembling a delicate cottage cheese. Another Mediterranean country where delicious fresh cheeses come from is Greece. The following deserve special attention feta with a characteristic, intensely salty flavour, which is becoming increasingly popular on Polish plates, e.g. in salads. Traditionally feta is made from goat and sheep milk. Less well known, on the other hand, is halloumi, associated with Greece, in fact originating from Cyprus, which owes its unique flavor to the salt brine. When it comes to Middle Eastern inspiration, fresh cheese is noteworthy labneh, which can be easily prepared on the basis of natural yoghurt with selected additives such as. with herbs, garlic or paprika. Cheese comes from India paneer similar to our native cottage cheese, but differentiated by the addition of acid, e.g. with lemon juice. So, as it turns out, the choice of fresh cheeses on the market is huge and it is worth discovering new varieties.
