Caboc is a Scottish

cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Stabilizers such as carob bean gum and carrageenan are often added in industrial production. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration de ...

, made with double cream or cream-enriched milk. This rennet-free cheese is formed into a log shape and rolled in toasted

pinhead oatmeal Steel-cut oats (US), also called pinhead oats, coarse oatmeal (UK), or Irish oatmeal, are groats (the inner kernel with the inedible hull removed) of whole oats which have been chopped into two or three pinhead-sized pieces (hence the names; "st ...

, to be served with

oatcake An oatcake is a type of flatbread similar to a cracker or biscuit, or in some versions takes the form of a pancake. They are prepared with oatmeal as the primary ingredient, and sometimes include plain or wholemeal flour as well. Oatca ...

s or dry

toast Toast most commonly refers to: * Toast (food), bread browned with dry heat * Toast (honor), a ritual in which a drink is taken Toast may also refer to: Places * Toast, North Carolina, a census-designated place in the United States Books * '' ...

Description

The texture is smooth, slightly thicker and grainier than

clotted cream Clotted cream ( kw, dehen molys, sometimes called scalded, clouted, Devonshire or Cornish cream) is a thick cream made by heating full-cream cow's milk using steam or a water bath and then leaving it in shallow pans to cool slowly. During this t ...

, while the colour is a pale primrose yellow. The fat content is typically 67-69%, which is comparable with rich continental cream cheeses such as

mascarpone Mascarpone (, , ) is a soft Italian acid-set cream cheese. It is recognized in Italy as a ("traditional agri-food product"). Outside Italy, mascarpone is sometimes mispronounced as "marscapone", even by food professionals. Production process ...

. Historically, it was a cheese for the wealthy, unlike the similarly aged

Crowdie Crowdie is a type of soft, fresh cheese made from cows' milk, traditionally from Scotland. The cheese was traditionally made for domestic use by crofters and smallholders in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, using milk from the family cow. ...

, which is made from the by-products of skimming cream from milk and thus is considered a poor man's cheese.

History and legend

Caboc is Scotland's oldest cheese, dating from the 15th century in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...

. The cheese was first made by Mariota de Ile, the daughter of the chieftain of the

Clan MacDonald Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald ( gd, Clann Dòmhnaill; Mac Dòmhnaill ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry i ...

of the Isles. At 12 years old, Mariota was in danger of being abducted by the

Clan Campbell Clan Campbell ( gd, Na Caimbeulaich ) is a Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the largest and most powerful of the Highland clans. The Clan Campbell lands are in Argyll and within their lands lies Ben Cruachan. The ...

, who planned to marry her to one of their own and seize her lands. Mariota escaped to Ireland, where she learned how to make cheese. On her return, she passed the recipe to her daughter, who in turn passed it onto her daughter. The recipe is still a secret and has been handed down from mother to daughter ever since. The present maker is Mrs Suzannah Stone of Tain, who works with a team of eight local women and her cheese is sold under the seal of Highland Fine Cheeses Ltd. According to legend, the tradition of coating Caboc in oatmeal started as an accident. A cattle herder stored the day's cheese in a box which he had used to carry his oatcakes earlier that day. Apparently, the oatmeal-coated cheese was enjoyed so much that from that day, Caboc has been made with an oaten coating.Historical and textural information from the Teddington Cheese
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References

External links

{{authority control 15th-century establishments in Scotland 15th-century introductions Cow's-milk cheeses Cream cheeses Scottish cheeses