Dunlop

What is Dunlop Cheese?

Dunlop takes its name from the village of Dunlop in East Ayrshire, Scotland. Barbara Gilmour made it in the early 18th century from unskimmed milk from Ayrshire cows, a type of cheese until then unknown in Scotland. Her neighbours copied the method, she traveled widely to teach it, and demand grew across the country.

Merchants came to Cunninghame to buy it and sold it through the central lowlands, while cheese from Kirktoun went to the Glasgow markets. The Ayrshire Statistical Account records 25,000 imperial stones made in the parish in 1837. Salt from the saltpans at Saltcoats, which carried magnesia and Epsom salts, gave the cheese a distinctive taste.

It needs six to twelve months to mature, kept in a thoroughly dry place and turned upside-down often, because it ferments slightly and heaves a little on top. Young cheese is semi-soft and turns fudgey or hard after a few months. The flavour is mild, sweet and buttery, and the texture resembles a soft Cheddar.

In Ayrshire the cheese was roasted and spread on a farl of oat cake or a supple scone, with a bowl of milk, whey, tea or cold water, which replaced bacon at breakfast in many families. It is now eaten on its own, with a dram of whisky, or used in recipes. Local production stopped around 1940 and has been sporadic since, though Dunlop is made again at West Clerkland Farm outside Stewarton and on Islay.