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I have been unable to find an etymology for the term Cottage Cheese in English. Interestingly, the Hebrew Wikipedia lists the etymology as being due to cottage cheese being prepared from the wastes of other milk products, hence its association with the poor and named after houses typical of the poor. The English Wikipedia has a single line alluding to such with no reference, and the Hebrew reference is rather dubious as well.

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6 Answers

up vote 20 down vote accepted

It's not to do with cheap/expensive - it's like country wine, which notwithstanding Wikipedia's definition, I take to mean capable of being made on a small scale, without use of industrial production facilities. That's the core sense of cottage industry and cottage hospital, so I imagine it's the same general idea with cheese.

I'm no cook/cheesemaker, but I'd be pretty sure cottage cheese is much easier to make at home with minimal specialist equipment than, say, Cheddar, or Brie.

EDIT: I see others mentioning that Wikipedia says the term was first recorded in 1848. That's complete tosh. Here, for example, is an 1831 reference - which I'm sure is nowhere near "first use".

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The comment about small scale production does sound logical, and is congruent with the stated etymology yet explains it better. Thanks! – dotancohen Dec 19 '11 at 20:54
wouldn't most cheese names be in use before the industrial revolution? – gcb Dec 19 '11 at 22:36
@gcb: Larger-scale facilities existed much earlier - for example, every peasant could presumably prepare griddle-scones, flatbreads, and such in the comfort of their own hovel, but they'd have bought "proper" bread from the baker when they could afford it. Similar principle with ale, sausages, etc. Anyway, I see no evidence in NGrams that cottage cheese was used before early/mid 1800s, so I don't think you've hit on an anachronism there! :) – FumbleFingers Dec 19 '11 at 23:03
I didn't find anything earlier than that 1831 either. Possibly not the "first use" but it looks good for an early recording: it's in an article about country lodgings, and describes cottage cheese as the name used in a village near Philadelphia, USA: "a small glass dish of that preparation of curds, which in vulgar language is called smear-case, but whose no de guerre is cottage-cheese, at least that was the appellation given it by our hostess." Also this suggests the term originates in the US, and Ngrams agrees (comparing corpora). – Hugo Dec 21 '11 at 10:55
I doubt you can read into NGram that it originated in America. Cottage pie and cottage loaf, for example, are foods you can cook without the more sophisticated facilities of the local baker's oven. I'd expect the term to have been coined repeatedly in different times and places. – FumbleFingers Dec 21 '11 at 15:26
up vote 5 down vote

Cottage industry, cottage hospital, cottage cheese - all suggest something small-scale, local, (domestic?). A cottage being a small dwelling of the rural populace.

From the Wikipedia article:

The term "cottage cheese" is believed to have originated because the simple cheese was usually made in cottages from any milk left over after making butter. The term was first used in 1848

Cottage cheese is not matured like other cheeses. The small-scale production techniques probably mean the infrastructure to safely and successfully do this were not available to the humble domestic cheese producers so their product was sold 'fresh'.

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up vote 3 down vote

Cottage cheese is one of those food words that varies geographically; in fact, it's been used in many dialect surveys as an indicator of dialect boundaries.

For instance, the following terms are (or have been) used for the same product in various American locations: cottage cheese, pot cheese, curds and whey, farmer cheese, and smearcase (the latter is an Anglicization of Pennsylvania German Schmierkees, from German Schmierkäse).

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Farmer cheese is vehemently not a synonym of cottage cheese: it's a totally different type of cheese. All it has in common with cottage cheese is that it isn't aged at all. – Marthaª Jun 17 '12 at 2:45
And I suppose the fact you think they are different helps define what dialect you speak. – GEdgar Jun 17 '12 at 3:15
up vote 2 down vote

Unsourced speculation this; however:

I think it's wrong to equate "cottage" with real poverty. Only the very wealthy would live in a castle or a mansion. A successful farmer might live in a cottage. (cf Anne Hathaway's Cottage; family dwelling of William Shakespeare's wife).

Making "proper" cheese is an involved procedure, involving months of attended maturation. Even in the Middle Ages, you would buy cheese from a professional cheesemaker rather than make your own.

Cottage cheese, however, is easy to make in the home. Heat some milk, throw in a curdling agent (rennet), squeeze out the liquid whey, and it's ready. Hence it's something someone would make in their cottage, rather than buying in.

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1  
As I understand it, the cottage was not always the domain of the wealthy. In fact, from what I understand the small humble cottage was once typical of the underprivileged. – dotancohen Dec 19 '11 at 20:55
I'm not saying the cottage was the domain of the wealthy. Just that it was never the domain of those too poor to afford "real" cheese. – slim Dec 20 '11 at 12:17
up vote 2 down vote

I have no firsthand knowledge of how the term cottage cheese came into use in the 1840's, so will quote from wikipedia:

The term "cottage cheese" is believed to have originated because the simple cheese was usually made in cottages from any milk left over after making butter. The term was first used in 1848.

Wikipedia attributes the information to etymonline, where we find:

First record of cottage cheese is from 1848.

Etymonline also has a link to dictionary.reference.com, which in a linked entry says of cottage cheese,

Origin: 1840–50, Americanism

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up vote 1 down vote

My pure speculation is that it is a corruption of "ricotta" cheese, which is similar very soft bland white cheese.

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Have you ever had cottage cheese? It is nothing like ricotta. – Marthaª Jun 17 '12 at 2:50
Ricotta supposedly means "recooked". They are substantially different, although admittedly they are both usually bland. – shinyspoongod Jun 17 '12 at 3:20

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