curd

Everyday

1. Curds are the thick white lumps that form when milk goes sour or is made to separate; they are used to make cheese. tree →
2. Curd is a thick, creamy spread made with fruit juice, sugar, eggs and butter, as in lemon curd. tree →
3. Curd can mean soft cheese, like cottage cheese, or bean curd (tofu). tree →

In the lessons

In science and cooking lessons, adding something sour such as lemon juice or rennet to milk makes it separate into curds (solid) and whey (liquid) — an example of a change that cannot be undone. In nursery rhymes, Little Miss Muffet ate «her curds and whey». In Canada, cheese curds go on poutine.

Examples

• Little Miss Muffet ate her curds and whey. tree →
• Add lemon juice and the milk turns into curds. tree →
• Cheesemakers press the curds into blocks. tree →
• I love lemon curd on toast. tree →
• Poutine is chips with gravy and cheese curds. tree →
• Squeaky cheese curds are a snack in Canada. tree →
• Bean curd is another name for tofu. tree →
• "Give me some curds, too, Dovey!" tree →

Note

For the milk lumps it is often plural: curds. «Lemon curd» is uncountable. Do not confuse with «curdle» (the verb: milk curdles) or «Kurd» (a person of the Kurdish people), which sounds the same.

In Jewish tradition

Curd was soft soured milk or cheese, eaten as food and used here as hospitality for guests.

Interpretation. Abraham serving curd and milk with meat to his guests is often noted. Later law forbids mixing meat and milk, so the rabbis explain this in different ways.

Examples

• And he took curd, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat. (Torah GEN.18.8, JPS 1917) tree →
• Curd of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and he-goats, with the kidney-fat of wheat; and of the blood of the grape thou drankest foaming wine. (Torah DEU.32.14, JPS 1917) tree →
• He shall not look upon the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and curd. (Writings JOB.20.17, JPS 1917) tree →
• Water he asked, milk she gave him; in a lordly bowl she brought him curd. (Prophets JDG.5.25, JPS 1917) tree →
• Curd and honey shall he eat, when he knoweth to refuse the evil, and choose the good. (Prophets ISA.7.15, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

For the milk lumps it is often plural: curds. «Lemon curd» is uncountable. Do not confuse with «curdle» (the verb: milk curdles) or «Kurd» (a person of the Kurdish people), which sounds the same.