Curds and Whey

Modern cookery for private families · Acton, Eliza · 1845
Source
Modern cookery for private families
Status
success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (8)
For preparing rennet
For making curd
For making curd (alternative proportion)
For Devonshire junket
Instructions (15)
Preparing Rennet
  1. Prepare rennet using the inner stomach of a calf, which is salted and dried on splinters of wood or skewers.
  2. Preserve rennet from dust and smoke (e.g., in a paper bag).
  3. Cut off portions of rennet as needed.
Making Curd
  1. Soak a small bit of rennet in half a teacupful of warm water for an hour or two.
  2. Pour a dessertspoonful of the rennet-liquor into a quart of warm new milk.
  3. Keep the mixture in a warm place until the whey separates from the curd and looks clear.
  4. Note: The smaller the proportion of rennet used, the softer and more delicate the curd will be.
  5. Alternatively, use less than an inch square of rennet for a gallon of milk and allow several hours for it to turn.
Making Rennet-Whey for Invalids
  1. For rennet-whey as a beverage for invalids, quickly and slightly rinse a bit of rennet.
  2. Stir the rinsed rennet directly into warm milk (curd hardening is not a concern).
  3. Keep the mixture warm until the whey appears and is clear.
  4. Strain the whey and give it to the patient to drink, or allow it to cool before consumption.
  5. Rennet-whey can have a benign effect in feverish complaints.
Devonshire Junket
  1. Prepare a dish or bowl of sweetened curds and whey.
  2. Cover the curds and whey with the thick cream of scalded milk (refer to page 451 for scalding milk instructions).
Original Text
CURDS AND WHEY. Rennet is generally prepared for dairy-use by butchers, and kept in farmhouses hung in the chimney corners, where it will remain good a long time. It is the inner stomach of the calf, from which the curd is removed, and which is salted and stretched out to dry on splinters of wood, or strong wooden skewers. It should be preserved from dust and smoke (by a paper-bag or other means), and portions of it cut off as wanted. Soak a small bit in half a teacupful of warm water, and let it remain in it for an hour or two; then pour into 452a quart of warm new milk a dessertspoonful of the rennet-liquor, and keep it in a warm place until the whey appears separated from the curd, and looks clear. The smaller the proportion of rennet used, the more soft and delicate will be the curd. We write these directions from recollection, having often had the dish thus prepared, but having no memorandum at this moment of the precise proportions used. Less than an inch square of the rennet would be sufficient, we think, for a gallon of milk, if some hours were allowed for it to turn. When rennet-whey, which is a most valuable beverage in many cases of illness, is required for an invalid to drink, a bit of the rennet, after being quickly and slightly rinsed, may be stirred at once into the warm milk, as the curd becoming hard is then of no consequence. It must be kept warm until the whey appears and is clear. It may then be strained, and given to the patient to drink, or allowed to become cold before it is taken. In feverish complaints it has often the most benign effect. Devonshire junket is merely a dish or bowl of sweetened curds and whey, covered with the thick cream of scalded milk, for which see page 451. 453 CHAPTER XXIII. Sweet Dishes, or Entremets. Jelly of two colours, with macedoire of fruit.
Notes
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