Ball Cheese

I have many passions. One of them is food.

Today I begin my journey through the culinary mysteries of America (and beyond) with a recipe from the Pennsylvania Dutch called “Ball Cheese.” That’s right, “Ball Cheese.” I have a particular affinity for the Pennsylvania Dutch because a sizeable portion of my heritage can be traced from Germany to Pennsylvania. A common misconception about the Pennsylvania Dutch is that they are originally from the Netherlands or Holland (thus the term “Dutch”) but in fact, they are originally from Germany. The word “Deutsch,” meaning German, became “Dutch” by way of the English language in America.

While researching interesting and strange preparations of food, I came across a recipe for “Ball Cheese” in the “Pennsylvania Dutch Cook Book” by J. George Frederick. The recipe calls for one gallon of sour, thick milk, and takes over two weeks to prepare, so I will leave the recipe here while I work on these little beauties and report back in a couple weeks:

Ball Cheese, Millersville

1 gallon sour, thick milk

Let the milk get thoroughly thick and sour, then put into a cheesecloth bag and let the water drain from it. When drained salt it to taste. Form it into flat round balls about 3 inches in diameter, and lay upon china platters for three days. Then roll the balls in baking soda and wrap in paper. Place the balls in an earthen or glass crock and let ripen for two weeks. Then take them out and rinse in water to remove soda, scraping the balls with a knife. They are then ready to serve, to eat. They are good with rye bread.

A gallon of milk, souring on my tabletop!

Happy adventuring!