-YOGHURT CHEESE-

Yoghurt cheese is simply concentrated yoghurt, and involves no more than leaving the yoghurt to drain in a sieve lined with a sterilised cloth. The obvious cloth to use is cheesecloth, which is fairly easy to buy but costs several pounds. It can be used over and over again, but must be laundered and boiled for IO minutes before each use. A cheaper alternative is a thin (old?) tea-towel, which also needs boiling for 10 minutes; an easier option is a new I-cloth, which is ready-sterilised (packs of 5 cloths cost less than £1 at the time of writing).

The drained yoghurt is thick, creamy and has a cheese-like tartness. Howtart it is will depend on the flavourofthe yoghurt used as a starter and whether you drain it in or out of the refrigerator: the yoghurt bacteria will continue to multiply in a warm atmosphere, so if you want a mild result and have the space, drain it inside. Commercial pasteurised yoghurt is obviously not affected by this rule.

You can use low-fat or whole-milk yoghurt, but the lower percentage of solids in low-fat means that you will end up with far less cheese: I Ib/500 g whole-milk yoghurt will give about 10 ozJ310 g cheese, the same quantity of low-fat yoghurt only about 6 ozJ190 g. Its thickness depends on how long you leave it to drain: 6 hours will give a thick cream, 8 hours the consistency of soft cheese, 10-12 hours the consistency of quite stiff cheese.

If you like, you can add a pinch of salt to the yoghurt before draining, but the cheese has a fairly positive flavourwithout it; for the same reason, other flavourings such as herbs do not seem to me an improvement.

The cheese is delicious as a sauce instead ofyoghurtand can be served with sweet dishes in place ofcream. It also makes an excellent, thick salad dressing (see page 112).