Fife farmhouse cheese is a hard matured cheese made from raw Friesian cow’s milk. The Friesian breed has been in Fife since the late 1700’s, due to trading with the Dutch and changes in farming systems. Throughout this part of Fife you can see the Dutch influence in the pantiles of the fishing villages of the region.
In Scotland cheesemaking would have been an everyday event on crofts across the land, but thanks to clearances they were decimated. After two world wars small-scale cheese production virtually vanished.
In our current food climate, processing, conformity, capacity and consistency are buzz words often used in the industrialization of our foods, yet in the world of cheese this can take the very soul from the product. Many have opted for commercial reasons (such as for vegetarians) to use vegetarian rennet, and many have made a decision to use pasteurized milk. This farmhouse cheese is entirely natural and made on a small artisan scale.
These cheeses are formed traditionally as clothbound wheels, matured and sold as they would have been historically, with no added flavours or additives. They are bold, distinctive, rich hard cheeses that should naturally vary in colour according to the season and the farm.
