Dry Cottage Cheese or Dry Curd Cottage Cheese or Quark

This blog is dedicated to the wonders of Dry Cottage Cheese!

Other names for it are Dry Curd Cottage Cheese, Farmer's Cheese or Quark.

This type of cottage cheese is made without adding any additional dairy products (milk or cream and salt, which makes a whey (liquid the curds are suspended in when you have normal cottage cheese) after the cheese is formed.

I'm not implying that Dry Cottage Cheese is abnormal -- far from it! 

What makes Dry Cottage Cheese a delicacy is that anyone who is crazy about cheese curds, Feta cheese or other crumbly white cheeses with a curd-like consistency will find adding Dry Cottage Cheese to their cuisine will enhance their life!!!

Both goat's milk and cow's milk may be used to make this type of cottage cheese.

In the countries of Ukraine, Russia and Hungary, this type of cottage cheese is very common.

This cheese is not commonly found in grocery stores, but you can ask your grocer to order it.

Also, you can drain the juice (whey) from regular cottage to obtain a similar product like Dry Cottage Cheese (but not as good because the curds are not as firm).

Are you a Ricotta Cheese fanatic?

But your doctor has told you to stick with a low-fat diet?

Happily, Dry Cottage Cheese comes to the rescue!!!  One Full Cup of Dry Cottage Cheese contains only 1% Fat!!!

Are you a Lactose Intolerant (Milk Sugar Lactose Intolerant) person?

Never fear!  Dry Cottage Cheese is an entirely Lactose-Free food!

Though this product, sometimes known as dry curd cottage cheese, is an ingredient in a number of recipes, including casseroles, noodle dishes, and desserts, it can be difficult to find.

Dry cottage cheese is commonly found in foods ranging from savory tomato sauce or bacon to sweet and tart desserts like custard, lemon, or sweet berries. This ingredient is favored in filled dishes like lasagna, pasta dumplings, and blintzes because the lower moisture keeps it from becoming runny.

What does Dry Cottage Cheese taste like?

Like a mild white cheese - similar to cottage cheese, but blander.

Therefore, it can be mixed with many different foods as it does not have an overpowering cheesy flavor.

I like to use it crumbled & melted over scrambled eggs, pasta dishes, steamed vegetables, and much more!

Alone, it is too bland to eat by itself to my culinary tastes.

My mother used to make Polish Pierogis which had dry cottage cheese used in their stuffing, along with whipped eggs, salt, pepper and a dash of sugar (yum!)

Here is a link to all of the nutritional information about Dry Cottage Cheese:

<a href="http://skipthepie.org/dairy-and-egg-products/cheese-cottage-nonfat-uncreamed-dry-large-or-small-curd/">http://skipthepie.org/dairy-and-egg-products/cheese-cottage-nonfat-uncreamed-dry-large-or-small-curd/</a>

A FULL CUP of this type of cottage cheese has only 104 CALORIES!!!

A FULL CUP has only 1% Saturated Fat!!!!!!!

As far as minerals this food contains, a FULL CUP contains 275.5 mg of Phosphorus, 13.63 mcg of Selenium and 24.7 mg of Calcium!  These are the top three (3) minerals in this food, in addition to the mineral Sodium, of which a FULL CUP contains 478.5 mg.

Alas, one cannot get away from salt in cottage cheese.

Well, I haven't found a low sodium dry cottage cheese yet on the market, but keep my eyes peeled for it.

Other minerals it contains are Zinc, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Copper, Manganese, and a tiny speck of Fluoride.

Now, about the proteins and amino acids in this food.

A FULL CUP of Dry Cottage Cheese contains a whopping 14.993 grams of Protein!!!

Amino Acids a FULL CUP of dry cottage contains (RDI = Recommended Daily Intake):

Histidine (63% of RDI)
Isoleucine (57% of RDI)
Leucine (55% of RDI)
Lysine (60% of RDI)        
Threonine (64% of RDI)
Tryptophan (71% of RDI)    
Valine (55% of RDI)    
Methionine     
Phenylalanine

Non-essential Amino Acids it contains:

Arginine        
Alanine        
Aspartate    
Cystine  
Glutamate  
Glycine  
Hydroxyproline    
Proline        
Serine  
Tyrosine        
Methionine + Cystine
Phenylalanine + Tyrosine

For people on a low carbohydrate (Low Carb) diet, this is a fantastic food to add to their diets, as one cup of dry cottage cheese contains only 9.65 grams (3%) of total carbs!!!  These carbs in dry cottage cheese consist of very small amounts of:

Starch  
Sugars    
Sucrose  
Glucose  
Fructose  
Lactose  
Maltose        
Galactose

Therefore, this is a superb food for Diabetics and others who must watch their sugar intake!!

This food scores 67 on the Glycemic Index, which makes it a low-glycemic food!!!

However, this is NOT a high fiber food.  Dry Cottage Cheese contains Zero fiber!  Therefore, one should COMBINE this food with high fiber foods if you are in need of high fiber in your diet.

Now, for the fat content.  Dry Cottage cheese has very low fat content.

Fatty Acids and Fat content of 1 Full Cup of Dry Cottage Cheese:

Total Fat    1%
Total Omega-6 Fatty Acids    0.00435g
Total Saturated Fats (Bad Fats)    1%
 
Butyric Acid   [Butanoic Acid]   
Capric Acid   [Decanoic Acid]       
Caproic Acid   [Hexanoic Acid]   
Caprylic Acid   [Octanoic Acid]   
Lauric Acid   [Dodecanoic Acid]   
Myristic Acid   [Tetradecanoic Acid]       
Palmitic Acid   [Hexadecanoic Acid]   
Stearic Acid   [Octadecanoic Acid]      

Total Monounsaturated Fat (Good Fats)    0.11455g   

Oleic Acid   [Octadecenoic Acid]   
Palmitoleic Acid   [Hexadecenoic Acid]   

Total Polyunsaturated Fat (Good Fats) 0.00435g
    
Linoleic Acid   [Octadecadienoic Acid]   

One full cup of dry cottage cheese contains only 10.15mg of cholesterol!

The United States Food and Drug Administration allows the following claims to be made by manufacturers of Cheese, cottage, nonfat, uncreamed, dry, large or small curd:

Cheese, cottage, nonfat, uncreamed, dry, large or small curd is an excellent source of Phosphorus, Sodium and Protein.
This means that the food contains 20% or more of your RDI for these nutrients.
Cheese, cottage, nonfat, uncreamed, dry, large or small curd is a good source of Vitamin B12, Riboflavin, Calcium and Selenium.
This means that the food contains 10% or more of your RDI for these nutrients.

So if you're still considering consuming regular cottage cheese, you might want to think again when you see the charts below which compare the nutritional value of regular and dry cottage cheeses:

Cheese, cottage, nonfat, uncreamed, dry, large or small curd vs Cheese, cottage, creamed, large or small curd

Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 100g or 3.5oz   Cheese, cottage, nonfat, uncreamed, dry, large or small curd   Calories 72 Calories from Fat 3   % Daily Value*   Total Fat 0g 0%   Saturated Fat 0g 1%   Trans Fat 0g   Cholesterol 7mg 2%   Sodium 330mg 14%   Total Carbohydrate 7g 2%   Dietary Fiber 0g 0%   Sugars 2g   Protein 10g   Vitamin A 0% · Vitamin C 0%   Calcium 9% · Iron 1%   *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.    Nutritional Data by SkipThePie.org

Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 100g or 3.5oz   Cheese, cottage, creamed, large or small curd   Calories 98 Calories from Fat 38   % Daily Value*   Total Fat 4g 7%   Saturated Fat 2g 9%   Trans Fat 0g   Cholesterol 17mg 6%   Sodium 364mg 16%   Total Carbohydrate 3g 1%   Dietary Fiber 0g 0%   Sugars 3g   Protein 11g   Vitamin A 3% · Vitamin C 0%   Calcium 8% · Iron 0%   *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. Nutritional Data by SkipThePie.org

 SkipThePie.org is a great resource online to check out the true data on food contents!

Now, the calorie content comparison:

Calories - Dry Cottage Cheese
Serving Size: 100g or 3.5oz   
Total Calories    72 kcal   
from Carbs    25.8 kcal    
from Fat    2.5 kcal  
from Protein    44.2 kcal        

Calories - Regular Cottage Cheese
Serving Size: 100g or 3.5oz
Total Calories    98 kcal   
from Carbs    13.1 kcal        
from Fat    37.8 kcal  
from Protein    47.5 kcal

Hands down, Dry Cottage Cheese wins all-around as the food of choice for the wise health-conscious consumer!

Now, for Vitamin Content:

Vitamin Content - Dry Cottage Cheese
Serving Size: 100g or 3.5oz

Vitamin A     8 IU
Vitamin B6     0.016 mg    
Vitamin B12     0.46 mcg    
Vitamin E (Alpha-tocopherol) 0.01 mg 
Thiamin     0.023 mg 
Riboflavin     0.226 mg 
Niacin     0.144 mg    
Pantothenic Acid 0.446 mg    
Folate     9 mcg    
Folate, Food     9 mcg    
Folate, DFE     9 mcg DFE    
Choline     17.9 mg    
Betaine     0.9 mg    
   
Vitamin Content - Regular Cottage Cheese
Serving Size: 100g or 3.5oz

Vitamin A     140 IU 
Vitamin B6     0.046 mg 
Vitamin B12     0.43 mcg 
Vitamin D     3 IU    
Vitamin D (D2 + D3) 0.1 mcg    
Vitamin E (Alpha-tocopherol) 0.08 mg    
Thiamin     0.027 mg    
Riboflavin     0.163 mg    
Pantothenic Acid 0.557 mg    
Folate     12 mcg    
Folate, Food     12 mcg    
Folate, DFE     12 mcg DFE    

Below are the figures for mineral content, comparing dry versus regular cottage cheese:

Mineral Content - Dry Cottage Cheese
Serving Size: 100g or 3.5oz

Calcium     86 mg    
Iron     0.15 mg    
Magnesium     11 mg    
Phosphorus     190 mg    
Potassium     137 mg 
Sodium     330 mg    
Zinc     0.47 mg    
Copper     0.03 mg    
Manganese     0.022 mg    
Selenium     9.4 mcg    
Fluoride     31.6 mcg    

Mineral Content - Regular Cottage Cheese
Serving Size: 100g or 3.5oz

Calcium     83 mg    
Iron     0.07 mg    
Magnesium     8 mg    
Phosphorus     159 mg 
Potassium     104 mg 
Sodium     364 mg 
Zinc     0.4 mg    
Copper     0.029 mg 
Manganese     0.002 mg    
Selenium     9.7 mcg 
Fluoride     31.6 mcg

For more detailed comparisons, please visit:

Skip the Pie Dot Org

Oh yes - for our Spanish Speaking readers, Dry Cottage in Spanish is:

Nombre Queso Blanco Grumoso

"Cottage Cheese" is thought to have originated from the fact that this type of cheese was usually made in cottages from milk left over after making butter.

The curds and whey of nursery rhymes perhaps was an old-timey way of describing regular cottage cheese.

Body Builders who do strength training and conditioning, runners and weight lifters all favor consuming cottage cheese due to it's high content of casein protein (a longer lasting protein), and because it is relatively low in fat content.

For more information about casiens, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casein

Here is a link to a forum where people are discussing use of dry cottage cheese in making the Polsh pierogi (and discusses other Polish recipes!):

http://www.polishforums.com/food-drink-8/pierogi-recipe-filling-grandmother-1609/4/