What is the difference between fromage frais and cottage cheese?

Answer 1

Yogurt is a milk product that has been cultured and allowed to coagulate.

The yoghurt cultures can include a combination of the follwing:

Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Lactobacillus delbruckii supsp. lactis.

The culture is added to milk that has been heated to 110F(43C). This is then kept at 100F (38C) for several hours to form the yoghurt.

The yoghurt can be strained in a cheesecloth to make thicker strained yogurt as in greek stryle yogurt, or strained further to make yogurt cheese(labneh/labaneh, dahi).

In various countries, yogurt may be made from the milk of cows, sheep, goats, camels, water buffaloes, and yaks; and soy milk. The plain yogurt found in the UK and USA is mostly made from cow's milk and is fairly bland.

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'Fromage frais' is a French term for 'fresh cheese'. The firmer variety is called 'fromage blanc' .

It is made by adding rennet and a bacteria lactic starter (which contains: Lactococcus lactis, Lactococcus cremoris, Lactococcus lactis subsp. Lactis biovar diacetylactis, Streptococcus thermophilus) to milk that is between 22 and 26 °C (72 to 80 °F). This is then left at room temperature (between 22 and 26 °C (72 to 80 °F) for 12 - 24 hours.

Sometimes Calcium Chloride is also added to help balance between calcium and protein, and help coagulation.

The bacteria eats the milk sugar (lactose) of the milk at room temperature. This produces, as a by-product, lactic acid which gives the cheese its flavor and increases the acidity of the milk. The rennet coagulates the milk. The mass of milk will solidify after a few hours. When the solidified mass shrinks slightly, visibly pulling away from the edges of the container, the coagulation is sufficient. The fromage blanc at this point will look like a block of curd floating in clear whey.

The curds and whey are next poured [and left] to strai through fine cheesecloth The strainer is supported in another bowl to catch the whey. The strainer and bowl are refrigerated during the draining process. How long the fromage blanc is drained is a function of how the finished product will be used. The longer it drains, the firmer it becomes

At its most generic, fromage frais can refer to any of hundreds of varieties of cheese that have not been ripened, but are meant to be eaten shortly after they're made. These include:

American cottage cheese, German quark, Italian ricotta and mozzarella, the French fromage blanc, Spanish queso fresco, and on and on.

In practice, when a recipe calls for formage frais, it probably means fromage blanc, which is a creamy soft cheese made with whole or skimmed milk and cream. It has the consistency of cream cheese, but with fewer calories and less cholesterol.

Answer 2

fromage frais = lait de vache

fromage chevre = lait de chèvre

fromage frais is fresh cheese that is still soft and is eaten with a spoon (we often mix it with soft fruit such raspberries and strawberries)

fromage de chèvre means goat's cheese, which can be fresh or aged which gives a hard texture and a stronger taste. It can be made in many forms and sizes, but usually goat's cheeses tend to be quite small.

Answer 3

Not much of a difference really. One has a bit more liquid and the other is more solid. That, and the fact that one is written in English and the other in French.