curd

noun, a coagulated substance formed by the action of acids on milk, which may be made into cheese or eaten as food (COD)

“I still recall taking the milk down to our local cheese factory at the time. And things were quite a bit different then. They had the whey there, which you would give to the pigs. And they had curd, which was not as highly desired as it is now. In fact, you could just reach into a vat and with your hand, literally, and take it out. You know, help yourself!”

“You had the starters dumped in the vat already, and the starter was just sour milk really, but it was cultured, too. And that started the acid working in the milk … You would warm it up to 90 degrees, whatever, body temperature and put the rennet in. And in twenty minutes or so, you cut the curd, you know, with wired knives … ”

“Then drained the whey off, and you were left with these big slabs in the vat. And you’d have to go over the side of the vat, and turn this curd, eh. With your hands.”

“We were bailing it out of the vat as curd.”

“It’s the cheesecloth that was in this hoop when you put the curd in. So that’s how the cloth got so tight around the cheese, ’cause it was already there when the curd was put in.”

“The curd wouldn’t separate.”

“You never had curd?”