I recently discovered that Lactofree, those nice people that remove the lactose from milk so intolerant people like me can enjoy cereal etc., make cheese – both soft cheese (like Philadelphia) and “hard cheese” – which is meant to resemble cheddar but really tastes more like Swiss cheese.

This is absolutely wonderful news. Amanda made Nigella’s London Cheesecake and it was possibly one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. Ever. And this is on top of the celebratory lasagna I made for her using Lactofree milk and semi-hard cheese (for the white sauce and lasagna topping) after she had her mid-maternity leave back-to-work day.

I’ve also tried the soft cheese on a bagel and its really indistinguishable from traditional soft cheeses. The semi-hard cheese is a bit thin on flavour, hopefully they’ll keep working on it.

So, kudos, you nice people at Lactofree. I’ll try your yoghurts if they ever get stocked by one of my local supermarkets, will look forward to you experimenting with lactose free creams, and getting a proper hard-cheese recipe right. I’ve love to know more about the process by which you get rid of the lactose – it sounds too simple from your website:

Lactofree semi hard cheese is made from cows’ milk. As part of cheesemaking, bacterial cultures are added to the milk to create acidity, aroma and flavour. These cultures need a source of food and this food is lactose. The bacteria uses up the lactose naturally found in the milk to give Lactofree cheese its distinct flavour. The bacteria will stop working only once all the lactose has been used up, leaving cheese that is lactose free.

Lactofree soft white cheese is also made from cows’ milk. The lactase enzyme is added during the cheese making process to break down the milk sugars into simpler forms that your body can absorb. So what you get is Lactofree soft white cheese, with the taste and nutritional goodness of regular soft white cheese, just without the lactose!

Clever stuff.