I read a little poem many times in my 1953 Collier's Encyclopedia Children's Edition set, the red book (I still have these books). One poem I enjoyed for reasons I know not was "Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet eating her curds and whey, when along came a spider who sat down beside her, scaring Miss Muffet away."There was a little illustration on the page of a spider dropping down on a web beside a little girl wearing a cap sitting on a four-legged short round stool.
But I grew up and went on with life and started researching rare old recipes and when I came across a recipe for "Curds and Whey" I was taken aback. Curds and whey was a real food.
One of my favorite foods is large curd cottage cheese and I do believe that curds and whey is old-recipe cottage cheese.
Here is the recipe
Curds and Whey -- a recipe about 150 years old
Pour warm milk mix into a warmed deep dish. Add rennet or junket into it, cover the dish, and set it in a warm place.
When the milk becomes a firm mass of curd and the whey looks clear and greenish, set the pan in ice or a very cold place.
Serve with sweetened cream and sprinkle with nutmeg. I first published this recipe in my magazine, Country Folk Magazine, about 20 years ago.
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