Farmer cheese (also farmer's cheese or farmers' cheese) refers to most often an unripened cheese made by adding bacterial starter and rennet to acidify milk. Farmer cheese may be made from the milk of cows, sheep or goats, with each giving its own texture and flavor.
During coagulation the mixture separates into curds (solid) and whey (liquid), then the whey is drained off.[1] Further pressing out of the moisture yields the malleable solid results of pot cheese, whilst even more pressing makes farmer cheese, which is solid, dry and crumbly. There are many kinds of farmer cheese worldwide.
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In the Upper Midwest of the USA, farmer's cheese is a semi-soft white cheese made from part-skim milk.[2]
In Canada the term farmer's cheese means a kind of hard, rindless white cheese which is firm but springy in texture with a mild, milky and buttery flavor which may be used in a way likened to Colby or Cheddar.
In Ghana, farmer's cheese is called wagashi or waagashi[3]. It is made by Fulani women using grass-fed cow milk and Xylopia aethipica leaves as the curdling agent. Waagashi is fried and eaten with a spicy peanut powder or used as an additive in various soups[4].
Indian paneer is curdled with an edible acid such as vinegar or lemon juice, rather than rennet.
French Neufchâtel is a ripened farmer cheese,[5].
Farmer cheese is often used for fillings in blintzes, pierogi and other foods. It is sometimes rolled in a mixture of herbs and flavorings or wrapped in very thin slices of flavorful smoked meats.
[1] A recipe for how to make Farmer's Cheese.
[2] How to make Neufchâtel.