Do you remember your grandmother making her own cheese? Many, particularly the older among you, will recall the vision of small, white muslin bags attached to a convenient tree in the garden, swinging gently in a summer breeze.
Later, they were brought in, the muslins peeled away to leave a perfect few ounces of soft curd cheese. The contents were beaten with a little fresh milk and, magically, a few hours later would emerge a wonderful cheese cake or a batch of tasty blintzes oozing with sweetened cheese, or even the height of deliciousness - a kaese kugel made with lokshen, sweetened with sugar and sultanas and fragrant with vanilla and lemon rind.
Poverty was never far away in those days and cheese-making converted an unusable product - sour milk - into something edible and delicious. Since the advent of pasteurisation, it has not been so easy to make cheese from sour milk. However it is still possible to make a wonderful home-made soft cheese.
For four to six generous portions, take a 450g tub of Greek-style yoghurt and scoop into a clean glass bowl. Add one teaspoon of fresh lemon juice and stir. Place this bowl in the microwave and heat for exactly one minute - the yoghurt should be blood temperature. Now line a large bowl with a piece of clean muslin - sold in nursery and kitchen shops. Now scoop all the yoghurt mixture into this bowl and pull all the edges together so that it's contained in the centre. Wind an elastic band or use string to tie around the neck, keeping a bowl under it for drips. Then attach some twine to the neck and you are ready to hang your cheese bag - traditionally in the garden, or perhaps on a balcony, or even in the fridge. In a few hours you will have soft, moist curd cheese; if you leave it overnight, the cheese will have a firmer, drier consistency.