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This is a list of cheeses from the eastern Mediterranean region of West Asia known as the Levant .
Due to the extensive history of livestock and agricultural domestication in the area since ancient times, nations in the Levant share highly similar foods, particularly dairy products like cheese. There are several traditional varieties of cheese most commonly found throughout the Levant, including ackawi, baladi, jibneh arabieh, jibneh mshallale, nabulsi, and surke. [1]
Some of the most common types of cheese from the Levant are:
Akkawi (also called akawi, akkawi, and akawieh) is a white cheese with a complex flavor. It is an Arab Palestinian cheese originating from the Palestinian port town of Akka] (Akka in Arabic). This cheese is commonly made using pasteurized cow's milk but can be made with goat or sheep's milk. It is produced on a large scale in Israel, Jordan, Syria and Palestine. [2]
Baladi cheese is a soft-white, smooth, creamy cheese with a mild flavour, usually spread on fresh bread or crackers and most often eaten for breakfast or snacks.
Baladi cheese is fresh, traditionally unpasteurized, and uncultured and is made with a mixture of goat, cow and sheep's milk. Its diverse microflora, high moisture, uncultured, and unpasteurized nature tend to limit shelf life to three days. [3]
Jibneh Arabieh (Arabic for "Arab cheese") is also referred to as jibneh baida ("white cheese"). It is found throughout the Middle East and is particularly popular in Egypt and Eastern Arabia. It is a fresh cheese with a milky quality, a pronounced saltiness, medium-firmness, and excellent meltability. It can also be boiled before eating. While the product originated with Bedouins using goat or sheep milk, the current practice is to use cow's milk and to add mahleb, a spice ground from pits of the Prunus mahaleb cherry for a "slightly salty, sweet and nutty” flavor. [4] Jibneh Arabieh is used for cooking or simply as a table cheese. [5] [6] [7]
Majdoule (or, madjoul) means “braided” in Arabic. It is a salty white string cheese made up of thick strands braided together. [8]
Nabulsi is a semi-hard cheese that is sometimes called by its Palestinian dessert name, kenafa , or kunafeh. It has a dense texture and melts easily. This cheese can be either salted or unsalted and is made from pasteurized milk from sheep, goats, or camels. It is also used as a base for other sweet-cheese desserts. [1] [9] [10]
Shelal (also known as mshalshe) is a salty, white string cheese made up of strands woven together. It is typically consumed in Lebanon and Syria. [11]
Surke (also called sorke or shanklish) is a mature cheese made with spices and generally presented as balls covered in za'tar orchile powder or other dry herbs (thyme, oregano, garlic, and/or chili pepper). [1] It is most often eaten as a starter dish with tomato, oil, and sometimes onion. [12]
Jibneh mshallale (or, tresse cheese) is a form of string cheese originating in Syria. It is a fresh cheese, typically made from a combination of milks from cows, sheep, or goats. [13]
Turkomani (also known as Türkmen) is a soft, porous cheese with a delicate flavor that can be consumed fresh or aged in bags made from animal skins. It can be made with non-fat cow’s milk or sheep’s milk.
Rather than emphasizing ethnic affiliation, Türkmen was a general term that historically referred to the lifestyle of nomadic peoples across Western and Central Asia during the Ottoman Empire. [14]
made by the Circassian minority
Halloumi or haloumi is a cheese that originated in Cyprus. It is made from a mixture of goat's and sheep's milk, and sometimes also cow's milk. Its texture is described as squeaky. It has a high melting point and so can easily be fried or grilled, a property that makes it a popular meat substitute. Rennet is used to curdle the milk in halloumi production, although no acid-producing bacteria are used in its preparation.
String cheese is any of several different types of cheese where the manufacturing process aligns the proteins in the cheese, making it stringy.
Feta is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep's milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat's milk. It is soft, with small or no holes, a compact touch, few cuts, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is formed into large blocks and aged in brine. Its flavor is tangy and salty, ranging from mild to sharp. Feta is used as a table cheese, in salads such as Greek salad, and in pastries, notably the phyllo-based Greek dishes spanakopita "spinach pie" and tyropita "cheese pie". It is often served with olive oil or olives, and sprinkled with aromatic herbs such as oregano. It can also be served cooked, as part of a sandwich, in omelettes, and many other dishes.
Goat cheese, goat's cheese or chèvre is cheese made from goat's milk. Goats were among the first animals to be domesticated for producing food. Goat cheese is made around the world with a variety of recipes, giving many different styles of cheeses, from fresh and soft to aged and hard.
Raw milk or unpasteurized milk is milk that has not undergone pasteurization, a process of heating liquid foods to kill pathogens for safe consumption and extension of shelf life.
Arab cuisine collectively refers to the regional culinary traditions of the Arab world, consisting of the Maghreb and the Mashriq. These cuisines are centuries old and reflect the culture of trading in ingredients, spices, herbs, and commodities among the Arabs. The regions have many similarities, but also unique traditions. They have also been influenced by climate, cultivation, and mutual commerce.
Nabulsi is a Palestinian white brined cheese made in the Middle East. Its name refers to its place of origin, Nablus, and it is known throughout the West Bank and surrounding regions. Nabulsi, along with Akkawi cheese, is one of the principal cheeses consumed in Jordan. It is produced primarily from sheep's milk; alternatively, goat's milk may be used. Nabulsi cheese is white and rectangular in shape. It is semi-hard with no gas holes. It becomes soft and elastic when heated. It is a typical ewe's or goat's milk cheese, but is traditionally flavored with mahleb and mastic added to the boiling brine. It is a major ingredient of the Middle Eastern dessert knafeh.
Akkawi cheese is a white brine cheese named after the city of Akka.
Jibneh Arabieh is a soft white cheese found all over the Middle East. It is particularly popular in the Persian Gulf region. The cheese has a mild taste similar to feta but less salty. The heritage of the product started with Bedouins using goat or sheep milk; however, current practice is to use cow's milk to make the cheese. Jibneh Arabieh is used for cooking, or simply as a table cheese.
White cheese includes a wide variety of cheese types discovered in different regions, sharing the sole common characteristic of their white hue. The specific type of white cheese can vary significantly depending on the geographical location.
Baladi cheese is a soft, white cheese originating in the Middle East. It has a mild yet rich flavor.
Domiati cheese, also referred to as white cheese, is a soft white salty cheese made primarily in Egypt, but also in Sudan and other Middle Eastern countries. Typically made from buffalo milk, cow milk, or a mixture, it can also be made from other milks, such as sheep, goat or camel milk. It is the most common Egyptian cheese. Unlike feta and other white cheeses, salt is added directly to the milk, before rennet is added. It is named after the seaport city of Damietta (دمياط).
Raschera is an Italian pressed fat or medium fat, semi-hard cheese made with raw or pasteurized cow milk, to which a small amount of sheep's and/or goat's milk may be added. It has an ivory white color inside with irregularly spaced small eyes, and a semi-hard rind which is red gray sometimes with yellow highlights. It has a savory and salty taste, similar to Muenster cheese, and can be moderately sharp if the cheese has been aged.
Cheeses in Mexico have a history that begins with the Spanish conquest, as dairy products were unknown in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The Spanish brought dairy animals, such as cattle, sheep, and goats, as well as cheesemaking techniques. Over the colonial period, cheesemaking was modified to suit the mixed European and indigenous tastes of the inhabitants of New Spain, varying by region. This blending and variations have given rise to a number of varieties of Mexican cheeses. These are most popular in the country, although European cheeses are made, as well. Almost all cheese in Mexico is made with cows’ milk, with some made from goats’ milk. More recently, efforts have been made to promote sheep's milk cheeses. Most cheeses are made with raw (unpasteurized) milk. Cheeses are made in the home, on small farms or ranches, and by major dairy product firms. Between 20 and 40 different varieties of cheese are made in Mexico, depending on how one classifies them. Some, such as Oaxaca and panela, are made all over Mexico, but many are regional cheeses known only in certain sections on the country. Some of the least common are in danger of extinction.
Tresse cheese, also known as jibneh mshallaleh is a form of string cheese originating in Syria. It can be eaten plain, or mixed with pastries.