This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (March 2018) This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources.Find sources: "List of Syrian cheeses" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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]

Types of cheese

Some of the most common types of cheese from the Levant are:

Ackawi

Akkawi cheese served with cherries

Ackawi (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, today known as Acre, Israel (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

Baladi 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 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

Three thick white blocks of arabieh/baida cheese are stacked atop a wooden serving board.
Blocks of jibneh arabieh/baida cheese

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

Majdoule (or, madjoul) means “braided” in Arabic. It is a salty white string cheese made up of thick strands braided together.[8]

White nabulsi cheese studded with black caraway seeds in a vacuum-sealed package.
Firm, white nabulsi cheese studded with black caraway seeds

Nabulsi

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

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]

A white ball of Levantine cheese called shanklish is cut in half and covered in spices.
Shanklish cheese cut in half
Firm, white shanklish cheese balls covered in spices in a vacuum-sealed bag.
Shanklish cheese balls

Surke

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

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

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]

References

  1. ^ a b c Mefleh, Marina; Darwish, Amira M. Galal; Mudgil, Priti; Maqsood, Sajid; Boukid, Fatma (2022). "Traditional Fermented Dairy Products in Southern Mediterranean Countries: From Tradition to Innovation". Fermentation. 8 (12): 743. doi:10.3390/fermentation8120743. ISSN 2311-5637.
  2. ^ "Ackawi - Cheese.com". www.cheese.com. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  3. ^ "Baladi - Cheese.com". cheese.com. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  4. ^ Kasbo, Benita (June 2020). "Jibneh (Syrian Cheese)". Kasbo’s Market.
  5. ^ Vachon, Pamela (2022-05-02). "How the Syrian Cheese Jibneh is Made and Enjoyed". The Cheese Professor.
  6. ^ International Cuisine. Wiley. 2008. p. 418. ISBN 9780470410769.
  7. ^ Fabricant, Florence (April 25, 2022). "Try Jibneh Seasoned with Mahleb from Kasbo's Market". The New York Times.
  8. ^ Accad, Joumana (2011-03-06). "String cheese". Taste of Beirut. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  9. ^ Haddadin, Malik SY; Gammoh, Sana I; Robinson, Richard K (2007-10-31). "Seasonal variations in the chemical composition of camel milk in Jordan". Journal of Dairy Research. 75 (1): 8–12. doi:10.1017/s0022029907002750. ISSN 0022-0299.
  10. ^ Haddad, Moawiya A.; Yamani, Mohammed; Abu-Romman, Saeid M.; Obeidat, Maher (2021), "Jordanian Soft Cheeses. Kunafeh and Other Products", Chemical Profiles of Selected Jordanian Foods, Springer International Publishing, pp. 49–56, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-79820-8, ISBN 978-3-030-79819-2, retrieved 2024-03-25
  11. ^ "Shelal Cheese (Full Fat – Half Fat) - Reyhan Evi Dairy Producer". Reyhan Evi. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  12. ^ Papademas, Photis; Bintsis, Thomas; Robinson, R. K., eds. (2018). Global cheesemaking technology: cheese quality and characteristics. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN 978-1-119-04615-8. OCLC 1035639713.
  13. ^ Gourmantic, Syrian String Cheese
  14. ^ "Turkmen Fringe Cheese - Arca del Gusto". Slow Food Foundation. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
Categories