SC - Soft Cheeses in Period

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

On 16 Apr 01,, Rosalyn MacGregor wrote:

> Recently, I began exploring the cheesecake idea. In Stephen's Florigieum
> there are some good pointers. However, they all use ricotta cheese. What
> other soft cheese would have been made in period?

Ricotta is a whey cheese -- that is, it is made by re-cooking the 
liquid whey that is a by-product of cheesemaking.  For 
cheesecake, you could use "new" cheese.  Farmer cheese or 
queso fresco would do, I think.  You could even make your own -- 
soft cheese can be made very easily, without special equipment.  
The main difference between one soft cheese and another is the 
kind of milk it's made from, and the fat content.  Goat milk will give 
you a different taste than cow.  And some of the soft cheese 
recipes call for milk + cream.

And don't forget to look in the Florilegium.


Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
now at a new address: rcmann4 at earthlink.net