Nothing beats a really good cheese. These days you can buy great dairy products locally, made using high-quality ingredients and with a unique flavour of their own. The next step is to try your hand at making yoghurt, labneh, mozzarella and even delicious matured cheeses yourself. The River Cottage ethos is all about knowing the whole story behind what you put on the table; and as Steven Lamb explains in this thorough, accessible guide, the key ingredient is milk. He shows you exactly what to do to take it from its liquid form to a wide range of dairy products, from clotted cream to a washed-rind cheese.

There are also plenty of gorgeous recipes that make the most of cheese and other dairy goods – as you'd hope, they involve such pleasures as dunking carbs into a pot of melty cheese; biting down on a delicate cheese wafer; or whipping up the best ever cheesecake.

With an introduction by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and plenty of helpful photographs, this book is the indispensable guide to crafting and enjoying cheese and other dairy products.