In favor of cottage cheese expressed Homer, Aristotle, as well as the great doctor of antiquity Hippocrates. Today, scientists believe that cottage cheese is the oldest of fermented milk products: it was started much earlier than butter and cheese. Apparently, for the first time the cottage cheese turned out ... by chance: the milk sour, the serum of glass, there remained a dense mass. Have tried - it is delicious!
The ancient Slavs ate curd every day. By the way, in the Old Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian and many other Slavic languages the word "sir" meant both cheese and cottage cheese. Today the words "cottage cheese" and "cheese" differ in meaning. Vladimir Dahl gave the following definition: "Curd is thick or solid milk particles, which, when curled, are separated from the whey, there is a sweet and unleavened cottage cheese from which cheeses are made, our curd from sour milk, which is put into a free spirit, and then thrown on a sieve or squeezed. " Perhaps, the Russian writer gave an exhaustive description of the technological process of preparing this product. If we translate this into the language of modern science, then cottage cheese is a sour-milk product prepared by fermenting milk with lactic acid bacteria and removing the whey.
Useful to all!
The process of cooking cottage cheese from milk includes the allocation of valuable components for health - easily digestible protein and milk fat. And the fact that cottage cheese is easy to digest is its main advantage. But the useful properties of cottage cheese are not limited to this. Scientists have proven that curd proteins get into the tissues of the body much faster than proteins contained in meat, fish and milk. For example, milk drunk after an hour is assimilated by only 30%, and any sour-milk products during the same time - already by 91%. Not surprisingly, cottage cheese is recommended to everyone from small to large - and infants, who are 6 months old, and older people. All diet menus, which doctors prescribe to patients with diseases of the liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular system and lungs, certainly include cottage cheese. However, it is useful to absolutely healthy people of all ages.
Proteins that are part of the curd, contain a number of essential amino acids - methionine and tryptophan. They are extremely important for the work of the digestive and nervous system. There are also mineral substances in the curd composition, the most important of which - phosphorus and calcium - form the basis of our bone tissue and teeth. And calcium is able to strengthen not only the teeth and bones, but also the heart muscle. Curd affects the formation of hemoglobin in the blood, contains vitamins B, protecting us from atherosclerosis. Phosphorus, iron, magnesium - all this we get along with cottage cheese.
Well, but in moderation!
Curd is indisputably a useful product. However, it must be remembered that this is a highly concentrated protein product, and therefore it is more often than 2-3 times a week is not worth it. Because of the excess of calcium, as you know, there may be problems with the kidneys. The volume of a single portion should not exceed 100 g - more protein for the body simply does not work.
It is important not to forget that this sour-milk product is perishable, the pathogenic organisms are rapidly developing in it. Therefore, it is necessary to store cottage cheese in the refrigerator for a maximum of 2-3 days. The popular rumor advises to keep it in enamelware, putting a few pieces of sugar there. Or, on the contrary, put the cottage cheese in a ... non-burning oven, and then under the press: after this procedure, it can be stored for months. In antiquity, he was so pressed for the winter. By the way, curious fact: there is a belief that the pressed cottage cheese became so hard that it made ... buttons! So our ancestors dairy product replaced plastic. Do you doubt the freshness of cottage cheese? Do not eat it raw. It is better to cook casserole, dumplings, cheese cakes from it - lots of recipes.
Shop or market?
Modern manufacturers do not hide: for the production of cottage cheese, both natural and dried milk is used. The dairy industry offers us in the shops a generous choice - curd fat, bold, low-fat, low-fat, diet, table, curd with additives, glazed curd cheese, curd creams and desserts, fruit and cream cheese, and cereal curd (special product from curd grain and salted cream) - the variety will satisfy all tastes!
Classical curd without fillers is divided by the fat content: fat (19% fat content), classic (4-18% fat content), low-fat (2-3.8% fat content), fat-free (0 to 1.8% fat content). And the caloric content of cottage cheese can be different - from 226 kcal in fat to 86 kcal in a low-fat product. Which one to choose? Perhaps the choice of fat is a matter of personal preferences. However, do not forget about your own weight! It is no accident that fat-free cottage cheese is included in the diet for weight loss dieticians. Eating it, even in the "fasting days" do not have to starve: kilograms are due to the fact that a nourishing protein is easily digested, and there are not so many carbohydrates in cottage cheese.
The guarantee of safety of useful properties of cottage cheese is its composition. In the factory curd, alas, can contain chemical additives, soy. The longer the shelf life, the higher the likelihood that the product contains preservatives. Village cottage cheese is easy to make at home. Or buy in a large city market, which is controlled by the sanitary and epidemiological station.
Secrets of the curd taste
How to distinguish a good product from a bad product? Fresh cottage cheese of good quality should have a pure sour-smelling smell and taste, extraneous smells and tastes are not allowed. The consistency of quality curd is always tender and homogeneous, fatty cottage cheese - slightly smearing, lean has a heterogeneous, friable consistency, small amounts of serum are permissible. The color of the product should be white or slightly yellowish with a creamy tint, evenly distributed throughout the mass. In order not to make a mistake in choosing, pay attention to the signs of poor-quality cottage cheese:
1. Dark, dirty color;
2. Consistency is viscous, similar to rubber mass;
3. Sharply expressed fodder taste, putrefactive, ammonia odor.
In the laboratory of Sanitary and Epidemiological Station, all samples of cottage cheese from different manufacturers are tested. All of them should get a satisfactory evaluation of their organoleptic properties before they get on the shelves to the stores. Specialists conduct laboratory tests of samples for food and energy value of the product: in each of them the content of protein, fat and carbohydrates should correspond to what is indicated on the package. The composition of each of the products must also fully correspond to that indicated on the product label. All manufacturers are obliged to fulfill the mandatory requirements - to indicate the shelf life of their cottage cheese. If the cottage cheese shelf life is short, it indicates that you are dealing with a quality natural product that does not contain harmful preservatives, dyes, fillers and other chemicals.