4:58 The man is hanging a bag with cheese on a tree, and he does it with a big smile on his face. Truly one of the best hosts of a show i´ve seen in many years
As a young boy hanging out in my grandma's kitchen I only ever saw use the palm of her hands for measuring ingredients and her goodies were great. She baked on an old wood cook stove.
Jason Fritz And now you have two different descriptors, so that you can be more accurate when you need to describe something that's about body-temperature.
_Are we really aware of the temperature of our own blood?_ *We?* No. But 18th century housewifery wasn't for the faint of heart; they'd have known exactly how warm blood was. Now, just stick in a thermometer and watch it rise to 37C...
I'm pretty sure that farmwives in the 18th century would have ended up slaughtering a calf or two, or delivering a babt in their day. blood warm is blood warm.
I ended up making these, and changed the recipe slightly. Instead of cane sugar/crystal sugar I used powdered sugar. I also salted the curd slightly more and they came out amazingly. Next time I'm probably going to experiment with a more savory route, or try to incorporate corn into them.
@@talosheeg Wisconsin, they sell the stuff everywhere, but go on the days when the local cheese makers are making they are much better fresh and squeaky.
@@christophertoole6994 No comparison needed here. You are a rude person. He is complimenting him. He is saying his passion and calm, teaching demeanor is similar to Bob's was of painting. Don't be negative for no reason.
Sad part is I come from California which has amazing different cheeses especially since we have the Mexican cheeses and then you have the people who come from different states and we are one of the largest Multicultural States outside of New York in the country yet we have not really celebrated our Cheese's until recently. In the last few years cheese production in California not imported has begun to be important. And you don't have to go to the specialty shop to try and find it it is starting to get into the regular stores. So it's sad that curds were never and still are not available even in the specialty shops not sure why not maybe because there wasn't anybody from Wisconsin Utah which is where I found them. Or any other state that might have had a good strong farm community still making good strong Farm food in California that could push the marketing or have a good Farm Stand those all died in the 70s out here. Our farmers markets are not really farmers markets the predominant thing with them is a few organic farmers that really do grow food on their own farms and then people who go to large markets in the major hubs purchase the vegetables fruits whatever and then sell them at the farmers markets pretending to be farmers as well as allowing non-farm Goods to be sold at these markets it's sad it's a black mark on our reason for having these markets
If you're just making curds, and not cheese that you're going to age, you can use distilled vinegar. That's how we in northern Norway make _gomme_, which is curds where the whey is either removed or boiled until it's caramelised and very reduced. We generally mix in raisins, and in white _gomme_ we generally sweeten it with sugar. The sugar is not as necessary in the brown _gomme_, since it's already sweetened by the milk sugars in the whey.
When using vinegar or lemon juice that is an acid set curd, it requires almost boiling the milk with the acid in it, and it causes more proteins to denature. In fact you can take the whey used in this video, add some vinegar or lemon juice to it, boil it, and you will get a small amount of ricotta cheese from it. If you use acid on whole milk, you won't end up with the cheese curds needed for this video, they will be much looser. Modern day ricotta instead of being made with just the whey from cheese is generally made from whole milk or even whole milk with cream added, and uses an acid to form the curds.
Or, you know, buy non-homogenised milk and just wait for it to go curdly. (Czech here. We use curds A LOT in our cuisine, and you can buy many different types of it. I think pasteurisation doesn't interfere, but I'm not sure because I often buy my milk from a milk automat where it isn't even pasteurised and you have to treat it yourself.)
... also, I keep thinking the kind of looser softer curds that's common here and which you can get by just waiting for milk to go curdly might actually be better for this recipe. If it's supposed to be batter. There's also a Czech recipe for fried... things... shaken in sugar where you make curd or sour cream dough, roll it out and cut out shapes that you fry.
I loved the flavor description in this one. In a lot of your older videos, you didn't really describe what the dish tasted like aside from that it was "good". This one, I could almost imagine it!
+Jas. Townsend and Son, Inc. In Wisconsin cheese curds are very common, and also the deep fried variety. I have never heard of a non savory sort of curd though...
@@dylanb4494 I wasn't criticising the system, but yes 11 months later I definitely have a better perspective on why people decide to go that route for their children's education.
@@billrowse2266 glad to hear it man. While we do have the risk of dumbass crazy people ruining their kids education, we need to preserve the right of parents to decide whats best for their own children. Also go make this recipe it was very good. Like funnel cake stuffed with cheese curds.
616lordofdarkness This is the saddest comment I’ve seen all day. I stay in contact with so many of my students to this day, years later. I put everything I had and knew how to do into making their learning process rewarding and invigorating and enjoyable. I’m so, so sorry that you’ve never seen a passionate teacher. (And John Townsend, you most certainly are one too!)
i discovered this channel today and i just want to say this is pretty awesome, i love seeing the types of food on here, i really want to make some of my own and i really like the detail with the music and the clothing to give it a little oomph, great work i will be following regularly and spreading the word.
I probably know more about cheese than anyone who's not in the cheese biz really needs to know, but this is the first time that I've ever heard anyone explain the function of rennet - not from the fromager's perspective, but from the calf's perspective. Thank you for filling in that hole in my knowledge.
Curd is a very popular ingedient here in Germany. You can find it in every Supermarket in many different fat conent. Make a tast: fresh Bread with curd and jam or curd with frech herbs and boliled potatoes. I think the german "Quarkbällchen" are simular to your recepi. Very popular in the time of carnival. (sorry about my english, greetings from Cologne, Germany)
Czech here. I'm not sure this kind of curds is as spread-y as what we have here! But that combination is rather popular on this side of the border as well, and the variety applies here as well. :-)
It is absolutely amazing to me, how genuine this man’s intentions are. His passion for history, he is literally just… A crazy smart, nice dude. I would definitely have a beer with this guy and let him talk about history with me to his hearts content
Cheese curds are a local specialty here in Wisconsin. Wisconsin actually has a longer history than most people realize, Europeans have been living here since the 17th century believe it or not. Anyway, I'm sure you hear all the time that people love your videos, so I'll say something a little different: I think what you're doing is very important for our nation as well as humanity in general. Lost history is an eternal tragedy, and you're helping to prevent that.
I grew up in southern cali and lived in georgia but now im here in Wisconsin. I have to say the food here is pretty good. Cheese curds are awesome ,once in a while . I gotta give this recipe a shot.
Not really a huge fan of cooking but these videos are still incredibly entertaining, your passion for what you are doing is a awesome thing. Seeing history come alive by someone who really cares is fascinating.
Re-watching this in 2019 and still enjoying every second! This channel is just such a pleasure to immerse yourself into, you can almost smell the food cooking, the wood on the fire...ahhh, just makes me all around happy! Thank you for making me and many others happy!!!
It sounds like the precursor to what us wisconsinites know as fried cheese curds. The modern ones are salty cheesy melty goodness but I'll have to try these as well.
As a native Wisconsinite, I thought you did a phenomenal job with a tough recipe. It's hard to make curds with the recipe you used, but you did a phenomenal job
I used to be a really big revolutionary war enthusiast and I would watch your videos all day, and I would read your catalogue in class. You're videos are always great, and I really need to start watching them again.
_Just make sure you don't die of dysentery on the way._ Bring whisky with you, and mix a little in with the local water. It'll kill the germs right quick! Coffee and tea will do the trick too.
Been a subscriber for almost a year now. Absolutely love the cooking segments. Also love the see how people lived back in those time frames and a little short stories that you give. Keep it up it is a great break from my day with knowledge and history.
My dad used to use the inside skin of chicken gizzards or even goat stomachs to curdle the milk for cheese. Pretty cool how they had it all figured out back then with just natural ingredients.
Yes they absolutely are, too bad they dont sell them much in fast food chicken restaurants. When I was in VA they used to sell them at a local fried chicken place along with fried livers and they used to sell tons.
If you are a vegetarian, or you don't want to go through the work of making curds, you could try to use paneer, which can be found at most Indian groceries. It's the same thing as the curd you used, except that Indians use an acid, like lemon juice, to create the curd. This makes their curd a bit more tender, but it's essentially the same and the method used to make it is exactly the same.
And I'm Czech and I went "why don't you just wait for your milk to go curdly." (Which admittedly not all modern treated milks do. Buuut... basically, milk that went bad isn't necessarily bad at all, okay?)
@JeanClaude Clemenceau Yeah. You probably have to be careful about clean vessels and utensils, but a sour milk as such is... well, probably just an acquired taste, that's all. :-)
"I love the nutmeg in there" .. Spoken like a true reenacter, , historically correct opinion, everything is better with nutmeg ;-) It does look quite tasty though. Another great video Jon! Perhaps in next Q&A speak about where all this nutmeg comes from in the 1800s, I assume it was a hot commodity!
Matt Hoskins Would a historical person even notice the nutmeg? You probably don't comment on black pepper or salt unless the levels are off, because you are used to it in everything.
Hey Jon, hopefully you will read this. I am a long time lurker, I have been watching your videos for a long time now, because I love and crave history and I do like cooking and imagining how they cook back in the day. History is part of my job actually, I'm a tour guide that tours many US east coast cities and I do love my job showing and teaching people history as you do with your videos cooking wise. That being said, I almost cried when you got a spike in views because of Reddit, a website I know and love for many years, it was about time your dedication was shown to the world. In closing, thank you for being there thank you for existing you are needed to remind people how it was back then. No question on my part I just wanted to acknowledge your talent and your commitment, thanks again and I look forward for new videos, as always. Your french canadian friend, John.
Townsend: "so the recipe calls for 10 eggs. Now eggs were smaller back then so 10 would be silly to use. I recommend 8 eggs because as I said you'd have to be insane to use 10" [Brief pause while eggs are added] Townsend: "so we're going to use 10 eggs today. "
Something that kind bothers me about some of these videos is that he often doesn't alter the egg amount at all, or does so completely off. I have chicken. They are modern chickens, bred to be egg layers, bred for their eggs, specially gotten from a hatchery for egg laying chickens, happy, healthy little ladies. Their eggs are easily close to half the size of a grocery store egg. An omelette that uses 2-3 grocery store eggs will easily use between 6-8 of their eggs, depending on the egg size (it varies) or the chicken who laid it (also varies). That 10 egg count should be closer to like 5-6, not at all 8, let alone 10!
You are my spirit animal!!!🙏🤙🤙🤙 I love cheese and almost every dairy product. I just told my wife, if my doctor ever tells me to give up dairy I'm running away from society 😁
I've never liked a video but after all of your videos so far and the historical background in this one, I had no choice. Can't wait to see more and would love to see more wild game recipes from that era (harder I know)
Man, I'm so glad I've found this channel. Not only am I constantly intrigued by the recipes and techniques of the 18th century, but your enthusiasm for this material honestly brightens my day. Keep up the amazing content!
Haha! That's what I've gotten out of this channel, too. Their catalog has a great spice combination that includes nutmeg, black pepper, and other things. It's really different, but tasty. It puts me in a different time zone and makes the history more real.
Cheese curds, fried or not, are a HUGE deal here in Green Bay, WI. They take them very seriously here. Almost as seriously as football. Lol. You can get them at fast food joints, the farmer's market, the grocery store, and restaurants. They're usually savory here. But it's really fascinating to see an 18th century take on them. Very cool. Thanks for sharing this! :)
I love how many recipes don't go exactly as you may expect (esp. working with older recipes haha!), and you folks always take it in stride and experience the food you have created. Thanks for taking the time to craft out these recipes, it's a joy to see the historical cooking methods used, and the obvious passion for living history; I always watch and enjoy, in particular the dutch oven recipes!
Thank you Jas. Townsends & sons, I very much appreicate the historial education. As a kid I was told that Cheese-curds and whey was Cottage cheese and the liquid that weeps from it. I greatly enjoy watching your experiments and historical presentations.
Absolutely love this channel. Brings back all the charm early American history had when I was kid, and gives it a foodie twist. Thanks for turning me on to new foods and just all around good feels.
Well, he's also done an episode on curly fries, and he's made gravy in many, so while the combination was not documented in period, you also can't rule it out simple because it is undocumented.
I heard that too. Also another person commenting said that where they were from, you can use white vinegar instead since you're not preserving the cheese.
Yes, and you can also curdle milk with fungies (mould processed agents: Aspergillus niger, microbial "rennet") and also plants, e.g. fig tree, nettle, many thistles, squash... And the easiest and the most ancient way of curdling RAW milk is letting it sit in ca.17°C and lactoferment it = let the wild, spontaneous, natural lactic acid bacteria do their job and curdle, ferment milk. Then warm it, strain it and there you go, the curd is ready - in Poland we call it Twaróg.
Not sure if it was well known when this video was released but for any vegetarians out there, you can purchase a rennet that is made from fungi, not farm animals, that makes some really tasty cheese, or curds in this case.
I love your work. This is exactly what I would like to do. I love learning new things and sharing or writing about them. It breaths life into the past and makes history relevant. Amazing.
Wonderful instructions! Noticed in all your campfire cooking that the smoke always gets in your face ... does it follow you or is it an intentional video special effect?☺
I’m stuck at home because of COVID and I seriously just love binging this channel so much ❤️ I’ve learned to much and the recipes are really so simple. Makes me want to show off some of these recipes when I go camping next 😁
5:04 I love the fact they had "difficulties" making the curds. As I'm sure would have happened exactly in those days. Seems like a very tricky process for any time period when done by less than mechanical means. So authentic. That's why I'm so addicted to these vids. :)
One of the cooler channels I've come across, you all definitely get the video pacing right. Educational, informative, clear directions and step-by-step tutorials that are easy to follow and since you're working through it it doesn't get boring. Subscribed!
yeah, until industrialization (ad even for awhile after that) your average peasant/farmer would burn 4000-6000 calories, more if you had an especially hardworking job like miner.
Man this is a traditional recipe in my city Taranto, South of Italy, we keep the old recipe close to our hearts. We still eat this today especially on December 22. The curd (ricotta) is just one of the many varieties of "pettole" the main ones are the plain batter with sugar and the ones filled with anchovies and capers
Every one of us north of the border is like "uhhh curds can be found at every single grocery store no matter how lacking said store may be". This will be an easy recipe to stock for for us Canadians hahahaha
+Yannick Stevens every grocery store in the North East has curds in the dairy section. They're there, but I think most people don't regularly buy them.
+MrDevilsbrood1012 in New York poutine is sold as poutine and it's usually fairly cheap pub type food. See Eddie Obrians for instance: eddieobriens.net/menu/ $9 for a plate.
Oh my gosh, so first off I'm the farthest thing from a history buff but let me tell you this, these videos make me kinda wish I was! Every time I watch one of your videos I immediately think "I COULD DO THAT!!!" Heck most of the time I have the ingredients in my kitchen already! Thank you for teaching me about food and history!
Man! I don't know how you get through these videos with all that smoke in your face. You can see it really get in your eyes every now and then. I know you probably have to do several cuts so cheers to you for being such a trooper!
HYPNOTIC series!!..... you need to let UA-cam understand, if they haven't noticed themselves already, that this 'cooking show' is so captivating that i forget to click THUMBS UP on each and every video! THANK YOU! :-)
In response to the cookbook title, was being a "housewife" in the 18th century not as common as I assumed it would be? Did it have any other meanings? I imagined the term was relatively new and came in response to the growing number of women/wives/mothers working outside the home.
From what I've read on the subject working women was alwayse considered fairly normal with a small population women doing at home jobs (sewing) or taking a trade doctor/teacher etc. it was only in the mid twentieth century that things got so goo that that gender roles saying women shouldn't work started. For example look at any poor country and all but the richest can't afford not to work regardless of gender and even age.
These curds look more like cottage cheese than the stuff I'm used to calling curds... This recipe would probably work better with poutine-style cheese curds if you want something more cheese-flavored.
This is cottage cheese,.. In some cultures they call yogurt as curd, and in others they call cottage cheese as curds..... Technically they are both curds
4:58 The man is hanging a bag with cheese on a tree, and he does it with a big smile on his face. Truly one of the best hosts of a show i´ve seen in many years
I noticed that too.Jon looks like a guy who really enjoys his life.
He truly loves what he does. Cheers.
@Sarah Nyb Yeah, me too.
He lives his dream, that have nothing to do with America. The USA is a parasitic nation. He lives like the landrobbers, nothing more.
@@lupo5297 america created much the modern world, from airplanes to computers to cell phones. yep, real parasites.
As a young boy hanging out in my grandma's kitchen I only ever saw use the palm of her hands for measuring ingredients and her goodies were great. She baked on an old wood cook stove.
"Blood Warm" will be my new go-to descriptor for lukewarm or body temp.
"Blood warm" is slightly warmer than "finger warm". =)
Ok, "finger warm" is now my favorite adjective.
Jason Fritz And now you have two different descriptors, so that you can be more accurate when you need to describe something that's about body-temperature.
_Are we really aware of the temperature of our own blood?_
*We?* No. But 18th century housewifery wasn't for the faint of heart; they'd have known exactly how warm blood was. Now, just stick in a thermometer and watch it rise to 37C...
I'm pretty sure that farmwives in the 18th century would have ended up slaughtering a calf or two, or delivering a babt in their day. blood warm is blood warm.
I ended up making these, and changed the recipe slightly. Instead of cane sugar/crystal sugar I used powdered sugar. I also salted the curd slightly more and they came out amazingly. Next time I'm probably going to experiment with a more savory route, or try to incorporate corn into them.
Great, thanks for sharing your experience!
scrooglemcdoogle that was what I was thinking, savoury maybe a little dipping sauce.
Tracey Allen Gravy, maybe
Where did you find cheese curds?!!
@@talosheeg Wisconsin, they sell the stuff everywhere, but go on the days when the local cheese makers are making they are much better fresh and squeaky.
You are the 18th Century Bob Ross of cooking. Feels good listening and watching you do this. Thank you!
@@christophertoole6994 No comparison needed here. You are a rude person. He is complimenting him. He is saying his passion and calm, teaching demeanor is similar to Bob's was of painting. Don't be negative for no reason.
@@sillyotter9047 Agreed
Bag of cheese in a tree? Happy tree indeed!
Lol
Townsends: "You don't find cheese curds in recipes very often these days."
Canada and Wisconsin: "Are we a joke to you?"
Sad part is I come from California which has amazing different cheeses especially since we have the Mexican cheeses and then you have the people who come from different states and we are one of the largest Multicultural States outside of New York in the country yet we have not really celebrated our Cheese's until recently. In the last few years cheese production in California not imported has begun to be important. And you don't have to go to the specialty shop to try and find it it is starting to get into the regular stores. So it's sad that curds were never and still are not available even in the specialty shops not sure why not maybe because there wasn't anybody from Wisconsin Utah which is where I found them. Or any other state that might have had a good strong farm community still making good strong Farm food in California that could push the marketing or have a good Farm Stand those all died in the 70s out here. Our farmers markets are not really farmers markets the predominant thing with them is a few organic farmers that really do grow food on their own farms and then people who go to large markets in the major hubs purchase the vegetables fruits whatever and then sell them at the farmers markets pretending to be farmers as well as allowing non-farm Goods to be sold at these markets it's sad it's a black mark on our reason for having these markets
Ha! Thumbs up!
there are stores without cheese curds?
@@valiantsfelinesmccarty6678 seriously, all the Canadians I know stock up on cheese when in California.
Quebec is more accurate than all of canada....historically speaking
If you're just making curds, and not cheese that you're going to age, you can use distilled vinegar. That's how we in northern Norway make _gomme_, which is curds where the whey is either removed or boiled until it's caramelised and very reduced. We generally mix in raisins, and in white _gomme_ we generally sweeten it with sugar. The sugar is not as necessary in the brown _gomme_, since it's already sweetened by the milk sugars in the whey.
When making curds or white _gomme_, keep the whey to use in baking!
When using vinegar or lemon juice that is an acid set curd, it requires almost boiling the milk with the acid in it, and it causes more proteins to denature. In fact you can take the whey used in this video, add some vinegar or lemon juice to it, boil it, and you will get a small amount of ricotta cheese from it.
If you use acid on whole milk, you won't end up with the cheese curds needed for this video, they will be much looser. Modern day ricotta instead of being made with just the whey from cheese is generally made from whole milk or even whole milk with cream added, and uses an acid to form the curds.
Or, you know, buy non-homogenised milk and just wait for it to go curdly.
(Czech here. We use curds A LOT in our cuisine, and you can buy many different types of it. I think pasteurisation doesn't interfere, but I'm not sure because I often buy my milk from a milk automat where it isn't even pasteurised and you have to treat it yourself.)
... also, I keep thinking the kind of looser softer curds that's common here and which you can get by just waiting for milk to go curdly might actually be better for this recipe. If it's supposed to be batter.
There's also a Czech recipe for fried... things... shaken in sugar where you make curd or sour cream dough, roll it out and cut out shapes that you fry.
This is how we make Paneer or cottage cheese in India. We use lemon juice and add it just before the boiling temperature.
Your videos are so good, brother. You're like the Bob Ross of old-fashioned cooking.
Thanks!
honestly a very apt comparison
why are you making a positive comment negative?
hes just comparing their voices because how relaxing it is , there is nothing wrong with that
@@christophertoole6994, oh my God! You're like the Howard Stern of UA-cam commenting.
I loved the flavor description in this one. In a lot of your older videos, you didn't really describe what the dish tasted like aside from that it was "good". This one, I could almost imagine it!
Yes, I have to get better at describing. Thanks for the comment!
+Jas. Townsend and Son, Inc. In Wisconsin cheese curds are very common, and also the deep fried variety. I have never heard of a non savory sort of curd though...
is that a jeff white french trade knife
I personally love how that guy pronounces garnish though (in his other videos). Man, I love this channel
mmmmm, food good, food good, that's my dad when he eats, homer simpson style!
I'm a new homeschooling mom, and I cannot wait to share this videos with my kiddo for cooking and history!! Thank you!
I hope they have fun learning about cooking and history. Thanks for the comment!
3a3j 6bun Never understood homeschooling. Did you put your kids through it out of necessity or because it was what YOU believed was right
@@billrowse2266 google common core and progressives syllabus then get back to us.
@@dylanb4494 I wasn't criticising the system, but yes 11 months later I definitely have a better perspective on why people decide to go that route for their children's education.
@@billrowse2266 glad to hear it man. While we do have the risk of dumbass crazy people ruining their kids education, we need to preserve the right of parents to decide whats best for their own children.
Also go make this recipe it was very good. Like funnel cake stuffed with cheese curds.
James, were you ever a teacher? You seem to have the passion that' I've only seen in teachers to share knowledge.
Nope, this is pretty much what I have always done.
he's a 'teacher' of sorts right now =]
Well he thought us something so yeas.
never seen a passionate teacher in my life to be honest
616lordofdarkness
This is the saddest comment I’ve seen all day. I stay in contact with so many of my students to this day, years later. I put everything I had and knew how to do into making their learning process rewarding and invigorating and enjoyable. I’m so, so sorry that you’ve never seen a passionate teacher.
(And John Townsend, you most certainly are one too!)
i discovered this channel today and i just want to say this is pretty awesome, i love seeing the types of food on here, i really want to make some of my own and i really like the detail with the music and the clothing to give it a little oomph, great work i will be following regularly and spreading the word.
Thank you for sharing our channel!
I probably know more about cheese than anyone who's not in the cheese biz really needs to know, but this is the first time that I've ever heard anyone explain the function of rennet - not from the fromager's perspective, but from the calf's perspective. Thank you for filling in that hole in my knowledge.
Why can't Food Network/Travel Channel/History Channel give this man his own show?
Amar7605 Actually, I wouldn't want network influence on the skits.
Lou Fazio good executive call there.
Good point.
He already does have his own show. You're watching it
Because food network only wants reality show trash.
Curd is a very popular ingedient here in Germany. You can find it in every Supermarket in many different fat conent. Make a tast: fresh Bread with curd and jam or curd with frech herbs and boliled potatoes. I think the german "Quarkbällchen" are simular to your recepi. Very popular in the time of carnival. (sorry about my english, greetings from Cologne, Germany)
Czech here. I'm not sure this kind of curds is as spread-y as what we have here! But that combination is rather popular on this side of the border as well, and the variety applies here as well. :-)
Your English is great! Definitely better than my German. :)
"We used rennet we bought online..." my brain short circuited with that 4th wall break haha
Ye olde interweb
Your brain must be really small
@@exterminans JFJSDDJKSHRGR
@@exterminans says the one replying to a 2 year old comment expecting a reply
@@mrdrose4005 😂😂
*makes cheese curd from scratch*
*fries it with egg and flour*
"I love the nutmeg"
frfr whats up with that?
He reminds me so much of my mother! She loves nutmeg, too.
This man has a nutmeg problem.
@@WMDistraction lol nutmeg is a hallucinogenic
That's what european says back then.
It is absolutely amazing to me, how genuine this man’s intentions are. His passion for history, he is literally just… A crazy smart, nice dude. I would definitely have a beer with this guy and let him talk about history with me to his hearts content
Cheese curds are a local specialty here in Wisconsin. Wisconsin actually has a longer history than most people realize, Europeans have been living here since the 17th century believe it or not.
Anyway, I'm sure you hear all the time that people love your videos, so I'll say something a little different: I think what you're doing is very important for our nation as well as humanity in general. Lost history is an eternal tragedy, and you're helping to prevent that.
"Ouisconsin"
-Some Frenchman having a stroke, probably
Yeah, no history before that though!
Hey neighbor! I’m from Iowa and gotta say I love Wisconsin cheese, y’all really do have the best dairy products ^^
I grew up in southern cali and lived in georgia but now im here in Wisconsin. I have to say the food here is pretty good. Cheese curds are awesome ,once in a while . I gotta give this recipe a shot.
@@sauercrowder Yeah that would be called prehistory.
Not really a huge fan of cooking but these videos are still incredibly entertaining, your passion for what you are doing is a awesome thing. Seeing history come alive by someone who really cares is fascinating.
Re-watching this in 2019 and still enjoying every second! This channel is just such a pleasure to immerse yourself into, you can almost smell the food cooking, the wood on the fire...ahhh, just makes me all around happy! Thank you for making me and many others happy!!!
Cheese Curd is one of the 3 ingredients of my homeland's national dish : Poutine!
Canada
Asphalt 🙌🏻🙌🏻
Caline
My Grandmother and Mother-in-law cooked like that. No measurements just "add some more until it is right". Great looking recipe. I'll have to try it.
It sounds like the precursor to what us wisconsinites know as fried cheese curds. The modern ones are salty cheesy melty goodness but I'll have to try these as well.
Seriously miss good Wisconsin cheese curds.
Lived up north but for the cheese bug.
As a native Wisconsinite, I thought you did a phenomenal job with a tough recipe. It's hard to make curds with the recipe you used, but you did a phenomenal job
"Curds arent something you find in recipe books today"
Me: *laughs in Wisconsinite*
I used to be a really big revolutionary war enthusiast and I would watch your videos all day, and I would read your catalogue in class. You're videos are always great, and I really need to start watching them again.
Yummy! Open up your own restaurant, I'll travel from AZ to try out 18th century food.
now that would be a great restaurant to go to :)
Good idea!
If you go to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, you can do just that.
Just make sure you don't die of dysentery on the way.
_Just make sure you don't die of dysentery on the way._
Bring whisky with you, and mix a little in with the local water. It'll kill the germs right quick! Coffee and tea will do the trick too.
Been a subscriber for almost a year now. Absolutely love the cooking segments. Also love the see how people lived back in those time frames and a little short stories that you give. Keep it up it is a great break from my day with knowledge and history.
My dad used to use the inside skin of chicken gizzards or even goat stomachs to curdle the milk for cheese. Pretty cool how they had it all figured out back then with just natural ingredients.
fried Chicken gizzards are the best
Yes they absolutely are, too bad they dont sell them much in fast food chicken restaurants. When I was in VA they used to sell them at a local fried chicken place along with fried livers and they used to sell tons.
+Just Add Muscle Recipe's yea it sucks
+Just Add Muscle Recipe's just about every fried chicken place in texas has them
jdod64
I dont know why they dont down here in Florida.
I just need to say it, that beard really suits you.
Agreed, the facial hair sits well on him.
He grew it himself!
I bet its Organic too.
probably an 18th century beard. i could be wronf
but can I purchase this organic 18th century beard?
If you are a vegetarian, or you don't want to go through the work of making curds, you could try to use paneer, which can be found at most Indian groceries. It's the same thing as the curd you used, except that Indians use an acid, like lemon juice, to create the curd. This makes their curd a bit more tender, but it's essentially the same and the method used to make it is exactly the same.
Lisa Thaviu exactly I m an Indian, n their curd maker is so cruel
And I'm Czech and I went "why don't you just wait for your milk to go curdly."
(Which admittedly not all modern treated milks do. Buuut... basically, milk that went bad isn't necessarily bad at all, okay?)
@JeanClaude Clemenceau Yeah. You probably have to be careful about clean vessels and utensils, but a sour milk as such is... well, probably just an acquired taste, that's all. :-)
It never occurred to me that cheese wasnt technically vegetarian since it involves extracting an enzyme from a baby cow's gut, go figure
"I love the nutmeg in there" .. Spoken like a true reenacter, , historically correct opinion, everything is better with nutmeg ;-) It does look quite tasty though. Another great video Jon! Perhaps in next Q&A speak about where all this nutmeg comes from in the 1800s, I assume it was a hot commodity!
Matt Hoskins Would a historical person even notice the nutmeg? You probably don't comment on black pepper or salt unless the levels are off, because you are used to it in everything.
Denise Skidmore I’ve used nutmeg for decades and I notice it in every food that has it. It’s very distinct.
Hey Jon, hopefully you will read this. I am a long time lurker, I have been watching your videos for a long time now, because I love and crave history and I do like cooking and imagining how they cook back in the day. History is part of my job actually, I'm a tour guide that tours many US east coast cities and I do love my job showing and teaching people history as you do with your videos cooking wise. That being said, I almost cried when you got a spike in views because of Reddit, a website I know and love for many years, it was about time your dedication was shown to the world. In closing, thank you for being there thank you for existing you are needed to remind people how it was back then. No question on my part I just wanted to acknowledge your talent and your commitment, thanks again and I look forward for new videos, as always. Your french canadian friend, John.
Thank you for taking the time to leave such a kind comment.
it dawned on me the moment you dropped the batter into the oil that this must be the grandmother of all Cheetos. ;)
I really like your calm, enthusiastic, bubbly with excitement approach. It makes me want to try them myself! You have a gift for this!
Townsend: "so the recipe calls for 10 eggs. Now eggs were smaller back then so 10 would be silly to use. I recommend 8 eggs because as I said you'd have to be insane to use 10"
[Brief pause while eggs are added]
Townsend: "so we're going to use 10 eggs today. "
Something that kind bothers me about some of these videos is that he often doesn't alter the egg amount at all, or does so completely off. I have chicken. They are modern chickens, bred to be egg layers, bred for their eggs, specially gotten from a hatchery for egg laying chickens, happy, healthy little ladies. Their eggs are easily close to half the size of a grocery store egg. An omelette that uses 2-3 grocery store eggs will easily use between 6-8 of their eggs, depending on the egg size (it varies) or the chicken who laid it (also varies). That 10 egg count should be closer to like 5-6, not at all 8, let alone 10!
@@GiraffeFlavored TWENTY EGGS
@@googiegress I reread these comments *twice* and cannot tell where you're getting twenty eggs from
@@GiraffeFlavored Oh yeah? MAKE IT FORTY XD
You are my spirit animal!!!🙏🤙🤙🤙
I love cheese and almost every dairy product. I just told my wife, if my doctor ever tells me to give up dairy I'm running away from society 😁
I've never liked a video but after all of your videos so far and the historical background in this one, I had no choice. Can't wait to see more and would love to see more wild game recipes from that era (harder I know)
Thanks for the suggestion.
Man, I'm so glad I've found this channel. Not only am I constantly intrigued by the recipes and techniques of the 18th century, but your enthusiasm for this material honestly brightens my day. Keep up the amazing content!
Another delicious sounding one. I've learned one thing for sure, its all about that nutmeg in 18th century cooking!
Haha! That's what I've gotten out of this channel, too. Their catalog has a great spice combination that includes nutmeg, black pepper, and other things. It's really different, but tasty. It puts me in a different time zone and makes the history more real.
But a quarter of a nutmeg! Is that even safe?
Mike Rowsdower nutmeg and allspice are my favorite seasonings.
Dan Denver nutmeg is fine, it’s coating ‘mace’ is not good in large quantities.
so good
I'm always smiling watching these videos. I never just smile.
Cheese curds, fried or not, are a HUGE deal here in Green Bay, WI. They take them very seriously here. Almost as seriously as football. Lol. You can get them at fast food joints, the farmer's market, the grocery store, and restaurants. They're usually savory here. But it's really fascinating to see an 18th century take on them. Very cool. Thanks for sharing this! :)
I love how many recipes don't go exactly as you may expect (esp. working with older recipes haha!), and you folks always take it in stride and experience the food you have created. Thanks for taking the time to craft out these recipes, it's a joy to see the historical cooking methods used, and the obvious passion for living history; I always watch and enjoy, in particular the dutch oven recipes!
This would take poutine to a whole new level.
Also, boiling hot oil on a tripod? Jon, you're braver than I.
You are aware cheese curd, the process, was invented by French Canadians and already is a main ingredient in poutine right?
This is the best, most wholesome channel on UA-cam. I wish I had this guys life.
I bet those would be great drizzled with honey and a cup of tea on the side.
One of the best American Patriot shows out there!
“I love the nutmeg in there”. I swear this man could live just off of nutmeg alone haha!
Thank you Jas. Townsends & sons, I very much appreicate the historial education. As a kid I was told that Cheese-curds and whey was Cottage cheese and the liquid that weeps from it. I greatly enjoy watching your experiments and historical presentations.
You said making cheese curds would easy to make and I was like "oh good" then I watched that complex tutorial
Medium Rare Potato LOL. Me too, but it all depends on what one is used to. For others, a vehicle engine swap can be second-nature.
Hey, my mom makes these fritters. Sometimes she uses cheese, or ripe bananas. Actually, she made them more often when we didn't have enough money
This channel is awesome, so glad I came across it. Keep up the good work!
I am so glad you found us. Thanks for the great comment!
Absolutely love this channel. Brings back all the charm early American history had when I was kid, and gives it a foodie twist. Thanks for turning me on to new foods and just all around good feels.
like an ancient ancestor to poutine
Or deep fried cheese curds...
Made me think of poutine as well!
Yeah... "ancient".
You mean Celine Dion would've approved this dish?
Well, he's also done an episode on curly fries, and he's made gravy in many, so while the combination was not documented in period, you also can't rule it out simple because it is undocumented.
I love UA-cam. There is no chance of me learning this any other way,but here I am filling my mind with good stuff. Thanks so much.
n u t m e g
T H I C C N U T M EG
S H U T U P M E G
i dunno man, im never going to cook something from that channel (propably) but watching this and hearing him talk brings peace to my soul
Teacher: "what are you laughing at?"
Me: "nothing."
My brain: *"General Curd Wallace."*
My favorite new series on UA-cam by a mile.
Thank you Good Sir!
I know you can curdle milk with lemon juice. Is that an alternate method that might have been used?
I heard that too. Also another person commenting said that where they were from, you can use white vinegar instead since you're not preserving the cheese.
Yes, and you can also curdle milk with fungies (mould processed agents: Aspergillus niger, microbial "rennet") and also plants, e.g. fig tree, nettle, many thistles, squash... And the easiest and the most ancient way of curdling RAW milk is letting it sit in ca.17°C and lactoferment it = let the wild, spontaneous, natural lactic acid bacteria do their job and curdle, ferment milk. Then warm it, strain it and there you go, the curd is ready - in Poland we call it Twaróg.
Not sure if it was well known when this video was released but for any vegetarians out there, you can purchase a rennet that is made from fungi, not farm animals, that makes some really tasty cheese, or curds in this case.
Eliza Smith's - Complete Housewife 1758... I know what I'm buying my wife 😂
I love your work. This is exactly what I would like to do. I love learning new things and sharing or writing about them. It breaths life into the past and makes history relevant. Amazing.
Wonderful instructions! Noticed in all your campfire cooking that the smoke always gets in your face ... does it follow you or is it an intentional video special effect?☺
I wish it was an effect.
+Jas. Townsend and Son, Inc. lol
That's just how smoke tends to behave unless the wind is exceptionally predictable.
I’m stuck at home because of COVID and I seriously just love binging this channel so much ❤️ I’ve learned to much and the recipes are really so simple. Makes me want to show off some of these recipes when I go camping next 😁
Curds are not a common ingredient? You've never been to Wisconsin, have you?
Well as you said, outside of Wisconsin no they're not.
+OlofTheBald
Very big in Canada, especially Quebec
k
It's big in Minnesota!
I don't even know if I can buy curds in California. I'll have to start looking.
5:04 I love the fact they had "difficulties" making the curds. As I'm sure would have happened exactly in those days. Seems like a very tricky process for any time period when done by less than mechanical means. So authentic. That's why I'm so addicted to these vids. :)
"If you can't curds in the store, they're very easy to make..." *spends over half of the video making curds*
One of the cooler channels I've come across, you all definitely get the video pacing right. Educational, informative, clear directions and step-by-step tutorials that are easy to follow and since you're working through it it doesn't get boring. Subscribed!
People in the 1800s weren't worried about cholesterol....lol
1700s. ;-)
Particularly in the 1700’s gout was a thing
And neither should we
yeah, until industrialization (ad even for awhile after that) your average peasant/farmer would burn 4000-6000 calories, more if you had an especially hardworking job like miner.
Hey, if the average lifespan was about 35, you wouldn’t care what you eat, but enjoy the moment
Man this is a traditional recipe in my city Taranto, South of Italy, we keep the old recipe close to our hearts. We still eat this today especially on December 22. The curd (ricotta) is just one of the many varieties of "pettole" the main ones are the plain batter with sugar and the ones filled with anchovies and capers
You can also buy vegetarian rennet online for those of us a bit squeamish about cow stomach juice ;)
Yooo imagine adding deep fried cheese curds to poutine, that would add a whole new taste and texture to it.
We have curds here in Pennsylvania, but they’re dryer and about the size of nuts. Not the same. Yours look more like cottage cheese.
He was making what Germans call Quark and we Poles call Twaróg :) Greentings from Europe...
Sir, your enthusiasm for cooking these historical recipes using period techniques is most delightfully infectious :)! Your shows are awesome!
Will you be doing more cheese videos?
He answered in a Q & A he will be doing some in the future he will go to a Historical Site to do a Special Cheese Episode
I wish I could be half as passionate and enthusiastic about anything as this guy is with his channel
Every one of us north of the border is like "uhhh curds can be found at every single grocery store no matter how lacking said store may be". This will be an easy recipe to stock for for us Canadians hahahaha
Well, you know how to make curds now hahahaha...
+Yannick Stevens every grocery store in the North East has curds in the dairy section. They're there, but I think most people don't regularly buy them.
That's closer to Quebec- I'm in Canadian PNW so even Seattle I've found it hard to find curds.
you can find poutine in the states but its sold under many different names and they tend to be very expensive.
+MrDevilsbrood1012 in New York poutine is sold as poutine and it's usually fairly cheap pub type food. See Eddie Obrians for instance: eddieobriens.net/menu/
$9 for a plate.
i appreciate the honesty when you discuss the final result. keep up the good work
He's so positive!
Absolutely love your show! Watching you make these old fashioned recipes makes me feel truly joyful.
I was repulsed by the idea of buying cheese curds in a store but then I remembered not everyone lives in Wisconsin
moedig You might know...is this curd the same as when milk is churned? As in for butter?
@@louf7178 no, you need to add a coagulant first
Oh my gosh, so first off I'm the farthest thing from a history buff but let me tell you this, these videos make me kinda wish I was! Every time I watch one of your videos I immediately think "I COULD DO THAT!!!" Heck most of the time I have the ingredients in my kitchen already! Thank you for teaching me about food and history!
4:27 that is de wae
The music is perfectly fitting. Love this channel.
I wonder what these would taste like if you made them as a savory dish. Salt instead of sugar.
I was thinking the same thing and i think it would work.
Good question, if you try it out.. Tell us how it goes.
Tovarish Ted What's up my blin?
Man! I don't know how you get through these videos with all that smoke in your face. You can see it really get in your eyes every now and then. I know you probably have to do several cuts so cheers to you for being such a trooper!
Excuse me, lemon juice and vinegar will turn milk to curds too. Just a little heads up!
James you are awesome man keep up what you are doing, there are a lot of people that appreciate what you do
A little vinegar would also curdle the milk.
Robin Lillian. That's the way we did/do it
HYPNOTIC series!!..... you need to let UA-cam understand, if they haven't noticed themselves already, that this 'cooking show' is so captivating that i forget to click THUMBS UP on each and every video! THANK YOU! :-)
In response to the cookbook title, was being a "housewife" in the 18th century not as common as I assumed it would be? Did it have any other meanings? I imagined the term was relatively new and came in response to the growing number of women/wives/mothers working outside the home.
From what I've read on the subject working women was alwayse considered fairly normal with a small population women doing at home jobs (sewing) or taking a trade doctor/teacher etc. it was only in the mid twentieth century that things got so goo that that gender roles saying women shouldn't work started. For example look at any poor country and all but the richest can't afford not to work regardless of gender and even age.
Hunter Smith you are new around these parts aren't you, greenhorn? Housewives have been around forever.
I came across your channel today and what a pleasure it's been watching your videos! Thanks so much for sharing with us.
These curds look more like cottage cheese than the stuff I'm used to calling curds... This recipe would probably work better with poutine-style cheese curds if you want something more cheese-flavored.
Seraph omg take your 21st century curd ideas to another channel.
This is cottage cheese,.. In some cultures they call yogurt as curd, and in others they call cottage cheese as curds..... Technically they are both curds
Just saw your channel for the first time, today. Subscribed. Thank you for keeping these old recipes and ideas alive.
One person disagrees with the 18th century.
Hey Jas, I love how accurate and precise you are (i.e., non-chlorinated water, pasteurized vs ultra pasteurized milk). Enjoy your videos. Excellent!
So, that is da way?
I would be terrified of a bear or a local miscreant being attracted to the smell of the hanging curd bag.
You should all be ashamed of yourselves that nobody ever liked this premium comment.