Creole cream cheese is a form of

farmer cheese Farmer's cheese is pressed curds or an unripened cheese made by adding rennet and bacterial starter to coagulate and acidify milk. Farmer's cheese may be made from the milk of cows, sheep or goats, with each giving its own texture and flavor. ...

that is traditional in the

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

area of

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

in the United States. It is made from

skim milk Skimmed milk (British English), or skim milk (American English), is made when all the milkfat is removed from whole milk. It tends to contain around 0.1% to 0.3% fat. Background Historically, skimmed milk was used for fattening pigs, and was re ...

buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in Western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most mode ...

and

rennet Rennet () is a complex set of enzymes produced in the stomachs of ruminant mammals. Chymosin, its key component, is a protease, protease enzyme that curdling, curdles the casein in milk. In addition to chymosin, rennet contains other enzymes, su ...

, has a mild, slightly tart, slightly sweet taste, and is frequently mixed with

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

and

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

and served as a

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

. It is often used to make Creole cream cheese ice cream. In homes it was traditionally eaten for breakfast and served with cream, fruit, or sugar; it can also be served on toast with butter, salt and pepper.

History

According to Mauthe of Mauthe's Progress Milk Barn, an artisan dairy credited with helping resurrect the dish, Creole cream cheese originated in the 1800s among people of French ancestry. Instead of forming the

curd Curd is obtained by Denaturation (biochemistry), coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet, a Kefir cheese, ...

s, they are said to have hung the clabber in a mesh bag in a tree and let the whey drain off. Creole cream cheese was served in a bowl and cream was poured over it. Mauthe remembers it being eaten on French bread in some areas and on cornbread in other parts of the Southern United States. Creole cream cheese is listed in the

Ark of Taste The Ark of Taste is an international catalogue of endangered heritage foods which is maintained by the global Slow Food movement. The Ark is designed to preserve at-risk foods that are sustainably produced, unique in taste, and part of a distin ...

, an international catalog of heritage foods in danger of extinction, maintained by the global Slow Food movement. Creole cream cheese's popularity declined during the second half of the 20th century and it became difficult to find. Several

dairies A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

in South Louisiana have offered creole cream cheese in the past, including Borden's, Gold Seal and Barbe's. In 1998 it was still available at Dorignac's Food Center on Veterans Boulevard in Metairie. The Gold Seal Creamery that was the last Creole cream cheese factory in New Orleans operated from about 1920 to 1986 and its blond-brick building constructed in 1954 is being converted into loft apartments.

Resurgence

More recently, creole cream cheese has had a resurgence. New Orleans native chef David Guas offers creole cream cheese at his Bayou Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

, served with

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked food item. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be savoury, similar to crackers. ...

s and pepper jelly. The

New Orleans Museum of Art The New Orleans Museum of Art (or NOMA) is the oldest art museum, fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, New Orleans. It is situated within City Park (New Orleans), City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton ...

(NOMA) included creole cream cheese as part of its 2012 "Art You Can Eat" demonstrations, with

Leah Chase Leyah (Leah) Chase (née Lange; January 6, 1923 – June 1, 2019) was an Americans, American chef based in New Orleans, Louisiana. An author and television personality, she was known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, advocating both African-Ameri ...

making it. Poppy Tooker has also been credited with helping resurrect the dish. The ''Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine'' includes instructions on making the dish at home. The intensive process required to make creole cream cheese, a yogurt-like and slightly sweet concoction, has made a comeback including with a cheesecake recipe from the Mauthe (pronounced: ; ) family of

McComb, Mississippi McComb is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States. The city is approximately south of Jackson. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 12,790. It is the principal city of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statis ...

, who operate the Progress Milk Barn, nearly destroyed by

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

Creole cream cheese ice cream

Creole cream cheese ice cream is also a Louisiana tradition. The

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

cracked down on dairies over concerns about spoilage and added regulations over milk and cheese production; production has become far more limited. The ice cream flavor was available at K&B drugstores. Other past producers include Brown's Dairy (formerly Brown's Velvet Dairy) in New Orleans. John Besh offers a creole cream cheese red velvet ice cream at his Soda Shop in the

National World War II Museum The National WWII Museum, formerly known as The National D-Day Museum, is a military history museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., on Andrew Higgins Drive between Camp Street and Magazine Street. The ...

. Mam's House of Ice in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

offers Creole Cream Cheese ice cream.

Baskin Robbins Baskin-Robbins, Inc. is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake specialty shops owned by Inspire Brands. Baskin-Robbins was formed in 1945 by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins in Glendale, California.

offered the flavor in 2011/2012. In April 2013, Blue Bell Creameries re-released the flavor in Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast region, and in 2018 released the flavor again in the Pine Belt area of Mississippi, most notably in the Ramey's supermarket chain. Another version is made by New Orleans Ice Cream Company.Beth Colvin
"Englishman finds N.O. flavors for ice cream"
, ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

'', April 24, 2013.

References

{{American cheeses American cheeses Louisiana cuisine Cream cheeses Creamy dishes

History

Resurgence

Creole cream cheese ice cream

See also

References