Caboc Cheese is a soft, double-cream fresh cheese which is a deep butter colour with a mild, sour tang. It is formed into logs and rolled in toasted steel-cut oatmeal.
It is made from an old, revived recipe by Susannah Stone of the Highland Fine Cheeses Ltd, located in Tain in the Ross & Cromarty region of northern Scotland.
To make Caboc Cheese, she uses pasteurized cows’ milk from three different farms, and no rennet.
The cheese is shaped into either:
- 3 oz (100 g) logs, 3 inches (7 cm) long and 1 1/4 inches (3 cm) wide; or
- 4 oz (125 g) logs, 4 inches (10 cm) long and 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) wide.
Nutrition
Caboc Cheese has 67% butterfat.
Storage Hints
Caboc Cheese is best eaten within 5 days, but refrigerated will keep for up to 3 weeks.
History Notes
Caboc Cheese is reputed to have originated in the Western Highlands of Scotland in the 1400s.
Soft fresh cheeses were made a good deal in the highlands; cheeses enriched with cream. like this one, would have been made and sold to wealthier people.
There are various legends around the old recipe. Some involve cow herders, some involve the semi-royal MacDonalds of the Western Isles.
Caboc Cheese was revived in the 1960s.