A well-known proverb states that we shouldn't cry over spilt milk.
But another Proverbs, more specifically Ailsa Proverbs, found herself close to ignoring this sage wisdom during repeated attempts to make mozzarella in her kitchen, unaware that this method of practicing until perfect would be the start of an innovative DIY cheese business.
During a TV program involving a chef creating homemade yoghurt, Proverbs was struck by a thought. What if there was some way cheese could be created at home, cheese so good that it might rival the stuff found in the shops?
It turns out there was.
"After watching that TV chef I wanted to explore the idea of making my own cheese, because I've always been a massive cheese fan.
"Years of being a vegetarian forces you to love it, I genuinely don't know anyone who doesn't love cheese.
"I soon discovered that the difficult bit wasn't so much the making of the cheese but the sourcing of the ingredients and equipment. Once I got that sorted, I just thought: why not put it into a kit?"
The Big Cheese Making Kit was born. Each box contains everything needed to make one of five varieties - halloumi, goat's cheese, crowdie, and mozzarella & ricotta (the last two are combined into the one set) as well as a children's version with ricotta and queso blanco. And because of the cheese types available with each kit are young, the making times are as little as under an hour.
They also contain the necessary apparatus for the process: a dairy thermometer and butter muslin, as well as the alchemic ingredients of vegetarian rennet, citric acid and sea salt, that turn milk to solid form.
The affliction of processed plastic cheese is one that most of us have sampled from a cut-price cheeseboard over the festive season. Yet there seems to be a movement towards proper cheese, a rebellion of sorts. Cheese classes - including Phoebe Weller's (aka the Roving Fromagerie) chewtorials held in Edinburgh and Glasgow - are introducing connoisseurs and newcomers to the real McCoy and showing why it's fair to demand more from our cheeseboards.
The current crop of independent Scottish cheese producers, available from esteemed cheesemongers including Mellis and Mewes, have shown that a mass-produced imitation of the product is not something we are willing to accept. The plastic cheese, one overly processed block at a time, is waning in popularity.
What the Big Cheese Making Kit seeks to do, however, is not so much a rival to these companies, but provide an experiental accompaniment to them. Detecting a desire to deconstruct the process, Proverbs' kits require just the addition of gold-top milk to turn its natural ingredients into 24lbs of cheese.
"The feedback we get is that people really enjoy knowing what's in their cheese. All the ingredients are natural so there's no hidden nasties.
"But the most important feeling is one of extreme smugness... Once you've made cheese for the first time you feel like the most impressive person on the planet!"
Remaining true to her roots is also something that drives Proverbs. Keen to support Scottish businesses, the company has launched a range of hampers featuring goodies from local makers and producers including Perthshire Oatcakes and Galloway Preserves.
"We are based in Edinburgh, and our manufacturing is in Galashiels in the Borders. We try to source as locally with produce from our favourite Scottish foodie friends filling our Christmas hampers."
"Christmas day itself is actually my son's birthday so I try not to work. My sister, however, is making a goat's cheese snowman for our table.
"Cheese made with our kits is so much fresher and more delicious than shop bought. Not to mention you can add all your own flavours and make it different every time.
"After all, cheese is milk's leap towards immortality!"
The Big Cheese Kits, priced at £22.50 each are available from selected delis and departments as well as online at www.bigcheesemakingkit.com
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article