As Scotland’s most traditional cheese, and the product that started the Stone family’s journey into cheesemaking, this lactic curd cheese is steeped in a rich heritage and brings a light and creamy reduced fat dairy option for those long sunny days.
Made using milk from free-roaming cows in the Scottish Highlands, Skinny Crowdie gets its name from its origin as a biproduct in the butter-making process, when the fat is removed from milk. The remaining curds are hung in a muslin, having previously been hung in stockings or pillowcases, and the result is a soft and crumbly spreadable cheese.
Light and creamy with a hint of lemon, Skinny Crowdie can be simply spread on an oatcake, folded into a pate, topped with berries and drizzled with honey, or even dolloped onto a hot scone with jam.
To top off the summer spread, it pairs really well with a chilled white wine, such as Viogner or Chenin Blanc.
Skinny Crowdie is priced at £5.25 for a 140g tub and can be purchased from hf-cheeses.com, along with Highland Fine Cheeses’ other award-winning cheeses and accompaniments, with delivery available across the UK. Highland Fine Cheeses’ range is also available in farm shops, delis, stores and supermarkets throughout the UK and Scotland. Cheese lovers can check their local stockist at hf-cheeses.com/pages/store-locator.
FACTFILE on Highland Fine Cheeses
Highland Fine Cheeses is based in Tain, which is in northeast Scotland, and produces a collection of artisan cheeses including Morangie Brie, Minger and Strathdon Blue.
Taking inspiration from around the globe, second generation cheesemaker, Rory Stone remains true to the artisan processes his parents implemented when Blarliath Farm was a smallholding of just 14 Shorthorn dairy cows, and a randy bull called Geordie.
The Highlands were traditionally referred to as cattle country, with every farm or croft having a house cow, to supplement their diet.
After the cream had been ladled off the top of the milk to churn butter, the remaining milk’s cultures would slowly eat the lactose and multiply throughout, souring it by releasing lactic acid.
Eventually the milk would set and form a curd, a bit like yogurt and the curd was scrambled like eggs and hung up in a pillowcase or a muslin to drain the whey. The final addition of salt resulted in Crowdie, a soft fresh cheese, traditional to Scotland.
Highland Fine Cheeses’ story began with the resurrection of Crowdie in the family bathtub, when Rory’s father, Reggie, complained that no-one was producing it anymore, and so his mother, Susannah, set about making it.
Crowdie is still made by Highland Fine Cheeses, albeit not in the bathtub anymore, alongside its collection of award-winning mould ripened, blue and washed rind style cheeses.
It's good to note that Highland Fine Cheeses does not add Bovaer additive or supplements to the feeding requirements of its dairy farmers.
Website: hf-cheeses.com