Scottish Anster

For over 50 years, Jane Stewart and her partner, Robert, have been farming in Fife. Where, in true Scottish style, their cows sleep on oat husks, which is a by-product from the nearby Quaker-Oat factory.

In 2007, they decided to make cheese with the high-quality unpasteurised milk given by their homebred, heritage herd of Holstein-Friesian cows. 

So they created the St. Andrews Farmhouse Cheese Company.  After a cheese-making course at Reading University, Jane carried out a fact-finding trip to the South West of England and Wales. Using cheese-making techniques and recipes from Cheshire and Wensleydale cheesemakers, she  developed a recipe to make a crumbly, lactic, vegetarian fresh cheese. 

Returning to the farm, she and Robert created ‘Anster’ cheese, named after the nearby fishing village of Anstruther, in Scotland. In doing so they followed a tradition that all Scottish farmhouse cheeses were named after nearby towns or villages. 

Anster cheese can either be sold young at around 8 weeks when; it’s light and springy in texture (rather like a Wensleydale) with a open curd or can be matured for around 8 months; allowing it to develop a more cheddar like quality that has a slightly flaky texture and dense body. As it ages so the taste alters. From a lighter almost grassy like flavour to that of an altogether richer and deeper taste that lingers on the tongue.