Curd cheese. Togapix / Getty Images via Canva Pro.
Curd cheese is an English fresh cheese made from skim milk. It has a starter added to curdle the milk. It has a very light colour, and is soft and spreadable.
It has a slight sour tang to the taste, and is not aged at all.
It is sold in tubs. A classic dish made from curd cheese is “Yorkshire Curd Tart”.
This is very different from “cheese curds” as known in rural North America.
Even in the England, curd cheese is getting hard to find at supermarkets. Occasionally you will spot it at dairy counters; more often, you will be able to get it at cheese shops.
Admittedly, curd cheese is a very odd name: after all, what cheese isn’t made from curds? If anything, it would give you the impression that the cheese is “lumpy”, as though can you see the curds in it, as you can in cottage cheese, but in fact the texture is smooth.
Cooking Tips
To make: stretch cheesecloth over a bowl, held in place with an elastic round the bowl. Tip fresh live-culture yoghurt into the cheese cloth and let drain for 6 hours.
Substitutes
Quark, ricotta, dry-curd cottage cheese, Fromage Frais. Or, more precisely, 1 part half-fat cream cheese and 1 part quark. Or, just cottage cheese pressed through a sieve (particularly for cheese cake).
Nutrition
Curd cheese tends to have a lower fat content than cottage cheese.
Equivalents
⅓ cup = 3 ½ oz / 100 g
Storage Hints
Store for a few days refrigerated.