# Cottage Cheese - what's your poison? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731 "2011-03-23T16:41:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/61 "2011-03-26T02:29:25Z")
I voted plain, but I wouldn’t say no to large curd with lots of black pepper. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/62 "2011-03-26T16:13:22Z")
My mother used to give me cottage cheese with pineapple as a treat when I was young, and was a strong advocate of serving it plain with salt and pepper. It’s a comfort food for me. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/63 "2011-03-26T19:12:51Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > I love cottage cheese- just can’t eat it any more. All the brands hereabouts have nearly half a gram of sodium per serving, and I’m limited to 2 g Na per day. > > That being said, it’s great with sliced, pickled jalapenos. I get low-sodium cottage cheese from Safeway. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/64 "2011-03-26T22:48:19Z")
I went all the way out to Lynden, and the only Knudsen they had were these little one in four-packs, and they were flavoured. The manager happened by and asked me if I’d tried Lucerne. I said I hadn’t, so he gave me a pint of small curd gratis. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/65 "2011-03-26T23:52:20Z")
I like small curd, and I prefer to stick it in a coffee filter in a sieve for a while before I eat it, let some of the whey come off. As for doctoring, apple butter is awesome, as is peach butter. Sometimes I swirl on a little honey, like with a good Greek yogurt. I don’t do much by way of savory on its own, but I often eat it with pasta and sauce in a bowl, instead of ricotta. Or mainly because ricotta goes bad faster than I can use it up but cottage cheese doesn’t because I can eat it on its own. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/66 "2011-03-27T00:17:40Z")
I have never liked any of it until . . . Last year someone gave me six of those huge tubs of cottage cheese and after giving a couple away I discovered a world of cottage cheese recipes. I was making cookies, breads, biscuits, cheesecakes, enchiladas, lasagnas, sauces and dips. I used every last bit of that cottage cheese. It was, if I remember correctly, large curd and full fat. Could explain that 50 lb. weight gain since last year! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/67 "2011-03-27T00:33:16Z")
Cottage cheese, cottage cheese Just try it once and you’ll agree That cottage cheese, cottage cheese It’s the only cheese guaranteed to [please](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht1vouSNy4I). ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/68 "2011-03-27T02:00:53Z")
A Doper recommended Tabasco on cottage cheese. It’s really good. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/69 "2011-03-27T02:46:01Z")
I like small curd for recipes because it mixes well. As for eating, it just kinda depends on what I’m in the mood for. I eat it plain, but I may have to try it with pepper. As for savory/sweet, both are tasty. Sometimes I’ll eat it with fruit on the side (especially berries), but I also like it in pasta dishes. At the cafeteria place I used to work at, one of our side dishes was a plastic container of cottage cheese with a single canned peach half on top. It sounded kinda gross at the time, but now I want to try it (but with fresh peaches, not canned. That part’s still gross). Hmm. I have a hankering for the stuff now. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/70 "2011-03-27T03:34:17Z")
Some of you who like salt and pepper on your cottage cheese might like to try what I like. Celery salt. Really, it’s quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/71 "2011-03-27T03:46:09Z")
This is one of the _very, very few_ foods I actually prefer in lowfat form. I dunno why - probably an acquired taste as it was all my mother ever bought ( but I somehow never acquired a taste for Tab, fake butter, dry-ass wheatberry bread or any of the other nasties I was forced to consume in my youth ). Anyway for whatever reason the full-fat stuff does nothing for me and large curd distresses me. I’ll eat it plain or occasionally with black pepper. I can eat it with pineapple, but never do anymore. ---
**Author:** ![surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surrounded_by_literalists)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/72 "2011-03-27T03:52:19Z")
with drained mandarin oranges 1:1 with fruit flavored yogurt Whipped in a blender and in burritos or on chili used in place of ricotta in lasagna mixed with bleu cheesed dressing on salad ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/73 "2011-03-27T04:18:08Z")
At Ethiopian restaurants they serve tiny curd cottage cheese with spicy meat stews. It helps cut the heat a bit and smooths out the flavors. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/74 "2011-03-27T05:01:24Z")
Small curd, all the way. I actually like the curds in large curd, but there’s too much whey and I find it unpleasant. I like it unadulterated. I don’t like sweet pairings, and savory pairings are unneeded. Maybe a little black pepper. It also needs to be very cold. I’m not usually very picky regarding food temps, but cottage cheese is one thing that I can’t stand if it gets even close to room temp. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/75 "2011-03-27T05:08:12Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Small curd, all the way. I actually like the curds in large curd, but there’s too much whey and I find it unpleasant. Yeah, that’s why I can’t use large curd in recipes. Whatever it’s in ends up being a soggy, runny mess. Small curd is more…homogenized, I guess. I suppose I could pop it in a food processor and give it a couple pulses to cut up the curds, but I’d rather just have 'em be smaller in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/76 "2011-03-27T16:53:24Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > It also needs to be very cold. I’m not usually very picky regarding food temps, but cottage cheese is one thing that I can’t stand if it gets even close to room temp. I nuke mine for 9 seconds before eating it to take the chill off. I can’t taste it if it’s too cold, plus I have very cold-sensitive teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/77 "2011-03-27T17:27:46Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Oh, I thought “doctored” up meant flavored, etc., in the carton. I always put tons of fresh ground black pepper on it. Me too. Small curd, fresh ground pepper, with sliced tomatoes. Yum! ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731/78 "2011-03-27T19:28:38Z")
I usually eat it plain. Small curd, Breakstone or Michigan only. But I also cook with it some. I like it mixed with pasta with pepper and sometimes with chopped tomatoes and basil. My mom’s scalloped potatoes must be a variation on [Gratin Dauphinois](http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2009/06/gratin_dauphinois_potato_gratin.php). They’re layers of paper-thin sliced potatoes and cottage cheese with a couple of bay leaves. Yum. And one of my very favorites is a Mollie Katzen recipe for red cabbage with dill cottage cheese dumplings. Haven’t made them in ages. I also use cottage cheese as a dip for potato chips. Sometimes I doctor it up with dill or some type of spice mix, but mostly plain or with pepper. Learned that one from a past roommate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cottage-cheese-whats-your-poison/575731.md?page=3)