I’ve often thought that if I worked in food production in any way, making cheese would be the thing for me. That or baking cakes for a teashop where presentation was low on the list of priorities.

I’ve been to cheese festivals, seen umpteen programmes about how cheese is made, eaten I have no idea how many different cheeses, and even wasted a couple of hours messing around and making a song about it (I know…I’m not sure what came over me). However I’ve never actually made any.

I have recipes for soft cheeses kicking around, and keep meaning to try them, but until I do, I’m going to content myself by supporting the industry and eating yet more cheese.

That’s why I was thrilled to come across a new local cheesemaker earlier in the year: Barwheys Dairy.

At the time, their cheese was still maturing, and so I put it to the back of my mind.

A few days ago I suddenly remembered it, and on revisiting their website was pleased to see it was now available in a few local shops.

I sped over to Jane’s Delicatessen in Maybole, and was immediately faced with an agonising choice between smoked or unsmoked. Although I probably should have gone for unsmoked to taste the cheese in its pure form, I couldn’t resist the smoked.

The dark colour of the cheese in the photo is actually an outer side that was presumably exposed to the smoke. It’s a hard cheese, and the interior is a creamy pale yellow and has a rich smoky flavour. It’s definitely a mature cheese, but smooth rather than crumbly and much to my taste.

If you are a south Ayrshire resident, I urge you to support this fantastic new local cheese and the shops that sell it.

Note: Photo by me in a hurry. Sorry for not taking off the plastic!