[Sca-cooks] Neufchatel Cheese

[Kathleen Madsen]

It's a lower-fat version of cream cheese, basically.
Actually neufchatel is a basic cream cheese,
frequently referred to as a "French Cream Cheese". 
The cream cheese as we know it today was created back
at the turn of the 20th century by American Dairymen
trying to recreate Neufchatel.  Back then it was
difficult to move perishable product very far, so many
of these wonderful foods couldn't be found outside of
a certain area or season.  Neufchatel is very
perishable, lasting only about 4-5 days outside of
refrigeration.  Once you get a little spot of mold
anywhere on the product you have to toss it, because
about 8 hours later it's going to be present
throughout the product.

The recipe for it is very simple, basically just
rennet and culture a batch of cream and let it sit
overnight.  In the morning when it's curded drain it
through a cheesecloth.  When it has finished draining
put it (still in the cheesecloth) into a colander
inside a larger bowl, place a plate on top and weigh
it down with two bricks.  The next morning take the
cheese out of the cloth and either flavor with salt
and herbs or just serve as is.  I have always gotten
rave reviews over this simple little cheese.  It's
easy to make and it's really, really yummy.  I've not
found any similar recipes in period texts, but we do
know that they have fermented and renneted cream - I
just have no evidence to show that they would have
then pressed the clotted/curded cream after it had
drained.

Neufchatel that you see on the grocery store shelves
today is using the traditional french cream cheese
recipe and it creates a very flavorful product.  It's
definitely not a light cream cheese product unless the
box specifically says "light" on it.

Hope this helps clarify the differences,
Eibhlin

-----Forwarded Message-----

You can find it in the grocery store right next to the
cream cheese.
--Maire
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stefan li Rous" <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>
To: "SCA-Cooks maillist SCA-Cooks"
<SCA-Cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2005 12:20 AM
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Pumpkin pie made with neufchatel
cheese


> This sounds unlike any pumpkin pie I've ever had.
What kind of cheese  
> is neufchatel cheese? Is that a fresh cheese like
real cream cheese