Farmhouse Cheeses and Oatcakes

Thirty years ago it was difficult to obtain genuine Scottish farmhouse cheese. The state organisation The Scottish Milk Marketing Board had creameries that churned out tonnes of orange-coloured, immature and a harmless, relatively flavourless, ‘Scottish Cheddar’. A bulk made cheese for a population that had not seen the real thing made in their own country since World War ll.

Names like Strathaven and Dunlop lingered in the national memory bank, but obtain them…little chance. Until brave pioneers like Humphrey Errington in Carnwath (Lanark Blue ewe’s milk), Susannah Stone in Tain (Crowdie and Caboc – double cream rolled in oatmeal), and a few others started to break the monopoly.