A taste of the secret Amish Kitchens

    I don't know what attracts me to "Amish Cheese's."  I came across a few recipes while putting about on the interwebs and was taken by them.  They do seem rather simple to make and they require little in actual work but they do require time.  While not exactly a "set it and forget it" cheese, these cheeses often used milk that has spoiled naturally over time or "Clabbered."  

    Which, considering the Amish lifestyle, makes perfect sense.  The Amish are not a wasteful people.   

    One cheese that caught my eye is called Amish Cup Cheese.   It is a soft spread where you heated the milk to room temperature first (about 72 F) then let it cool, letting the curds seperate from the whey.    Then you add a bit ingredients and again...you "rested" the cheese for 12 hours before moving on to the next step.  Then, again add some more ingredients then rest for 5 hours before moving on.  It's not hard, just time consuming.

     It's simplicity was in the fact that their were no cultures, no rennet (if you wished) and no pressing or aging.  The fact that this particular cheese probably dated back to the 1600's, if not before, and probably had remained unchanged during that period excited me.  After all, how often do you get to taste the food that people were eating 400 to 500 years ago?

    This is also one of the recipe's that would be best suited for raw, unpasteurized milk.  Again, not something that I would have in ready supply but the Amish here in Western Pennsylvania most certainly would.   I don't know any personally and wasn't sure how comfortable I would be to go and knock on their door asking for a gallon of it.  Because of that I was going to try my best with good old whole pasteurized milk.

    Or I may have been excited that I could only find limited information on this type of cheese.  Today, it appears that cup cheese is only eaten among the Amish and Mennonites at Church socials and special events like a wedding.   So that in itself made it interesting to me.

    Amish cheese making then is like a secret club that only a few people can partake in.  

    My research however did find that in his 1974 novel, Centennial,  the author James Michener commented on something called cup cheese:

“You ever tasted my mother’s cup cheese? Best in Lancaster.”

Taking a corner of his black bread, he spread it copiously with a yellowish viscous substance that one would not normally identify as cheese; it was more like a very thick, very cold molasses, and it had a horrific smell. Rebecca was not fond of cup cheese; it was a taste that men seemed to prefer.

“Poppa likes cup cheese,” she said with a neutral look on her pretty face.
“You don’t?” Levi asked.
“Too smelly.”

“That’s the good part.” He put the piece of bread to his nose, inhaling deeply. He knew of few things in the world he liked better than the smell of his mother’s cup cheese that smelled stronger than Limburger and tasted better. He ate her piece, his own, and what was left and then licked the container.

 

     Nearly every description that I can find seems to say the same thing.  That cup cheese has a smell similar to Limburger and a glue like consistency  Many of these same sources state it was also made with processed American cheese...only no recipe that I found actually called for processed American cheese.  No, I'm not talking about the differences between how they are made but the use of actual American cheese.  Yes, that orange tasteless stuff.

    In the video below, she made a type of cup cheese and did not mention smell, nor did the consistency seem that different that different than a cheese dip you buy at the store.  Could cup cheese have received a bad rap?  Could this be "Fake News"?   I was curious to know.

   OK, the recipe that I'm using states that it's rather bland and originally I thought that I could add fresh berries or something else to it to give it a bit of flavor.   So I was curious to know if it was a thick smelly cheese...or a dip or spread.  If I liked it and wanted to make it again, a little bit of added flavoring could be in order.

     So basically I'm looking at using up an entire weekend..for a cheese I may not even like.    Cool, I'm into this.  It's like one of those science experiments you used to do in High School or in college. 

    As far as it's nutritional value, I did find some evidence that it is very high in saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol. Approximately 70% of the total calories in cup cheese are from fat, although it does not contain any trans fats. It has quite a bit of protein and small amounts of several minerals, however, including potassium, so it does have some nutritional value but I'm not sure of the exact break down. 

     Again however, a website claiming to sell cup cheese stated it was fat free.   They were using skim milk, so I'm thinking originally it was pretty fatty.    I am half tempted to order some and compare taste and consistency. 

    In my research I found this little video which should give you an idea on what the process looked like, although I followed my recipe, she follows a slightly different recipe.  I don't particularly like this particular video, due to how its produced, but.there is only limited info available on cup cheese. 

     So after everything was said and done....what did I think?

    While when I initially cut into the curd after letting it sit at room temperature overnight with the buttermilk and rennet added, it reminded me of a  custard.   I stuck my nose in and took a deep breath.  Nope, nothing unusual.  

    After hand ladling the curds into the colander, I had a very nice yield of cheese curds with a nice solid consistency.  After letting the curds drain for 12 hours, I added 3 tablespoons of butter and a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.   Sadly I think the pot I was using for a double broiler was conducting the heat, for what I was ending up with reminded me of marshmallow fluff.   I expected the cheese to melt more.

    As I tasted the cheese however I was reminded of the Queso Blanco (or white American cheese) you get at Mexican Restaurants (and suddenly the processed cheese mentioned above starts to make sense).  

   

my homemade double broiler

    I did break with the recipe a bit here and added a tablespoon of salt to taste, as the cheese did seem bland.  Honestly I don't know what I was thinking, a 1/2 of teaspoon should have been enough as my final product did have a bit of saltiness to it.

    I also broke with the recipe in another way, and I recommend you do as well.  Add the creamer right at the beginning of the final step.   There is a lot of stirring involved here and my hand is still cramped.  However adding the heavy cream will melt the cheese a faster and help break down the large chucks of cheese.

    In the end I was rather happy with the final product, it did remind me of a Queso Blanco that you would find at any Mexican restaurant and with the addition of some green pepper and chili, I think you have a pretty good copy.   

    It is a rather bland taste however without anything added and I don't smell anything approaching "Limburger."   This is actually a pretty simple cheese to make, but at the end of the day it does require a lot of stirring.   

    Since this is a cup cheese, I decided to store my cheese is some small Mason jars that we had laying about, I ended up with 3 jars full of cheese.  Not a bad yield I think.     Although in my research, I did see someone use a pie plate which may be a better way to store this particular cheese.  

    Overall it's a good cheese, its a nice spread for bread or on a chip.   I'm still debating if I would make it again though.  If I did, I would kick up the flavor a bit with some chili's and green pepper.

    **Edit**  My wife loved this cheese and asked me to make it again.  So that alone is worth noting.