Adventures in Cooking: Cheesy Cheese

Majida Rashid

To the fiancée – milk; to the bride – butter; to the husband – cheese.
— A Luxembourg proverb.

In my early teens, I came across a nomadic man wearing a white turban and sitting in a yoga posture on the pavement at the Peshawar bazaar. A huge round tray covered with green fig leaves placed in front of him showed off white disks, each measuring about 10-inches in diameter, and three-inches in height. Eating open food from outside was frowned upon at home. But my curiosity couldn’t resist the allure of the smooth glistening spheres.

That was my introduction to Kularri, the only cheese available in Peshawar. Fried slices of this cheese were light to the palate, despite a delectable creamy flavor and a hint of eggs, though there are no eggs in the cheese. Later I came across locally made cheeses in other cities, but Pakistan is not a cheese eating country.

Variety of cheeses in the Middle Eastern countries surpass the imported ones from France, Greece, Italy and other countries. Iranians invariably eat Naan, fresh chives, basal, mint, curly parsley and small cut up white goat cheese for dinner. Turks have perfected Labneh cheese, which is strained yogurt gone astray.

Halloumi and Feta are two most popular cheeses in the Middle East. They are always sold in brine and soaking them overnight in water gets rid of the salt. The flavor of a feta slice with a generous dose of olive oil and a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper that my Greek friend served with coffee matches none other.

Sumerians were known to have consumed cheese in 4000 B.C. The exact history of how cheese came into existence is unknown. However, according to a legend an Arab shepherd discovered cheese by accident when he carried milk in animal skin bags for his consumption during the day. The heat of the desert activated the coagulating enzyme called rennet and separated milk proteins from the liquid. Rennet is found in the stomach juices of an infant calf or other suckling ruminants. Whether the mythical herdsman existed or not, the world is better off with the discovery of cheese. The process of cheese making has come a long way since then.

Modern day cheeses, unlike any other prepared food, offer something to every palate albeit at a cost. Special cheese like Pule, made with donkey milk indigenous to Serbia, has even surpassed gold studded white stilton with a whooping six hundred dollars a pound price tag.

Cheese making can be simple or arduous. Type of milk, choice of bacteria, curds cutting method, quantity of salt, humidity, temperature and the length of time during the ageing process impact flavor, texture, body and appearance of cheese.

Either pasteurized or raw milk can be used. Acidic culture like vinegar, lemon juice or yoghurt is added to hot milk and left for a while. This separates the curds from whey which contains lactose. Sometimes rennet is used to get the curds known as junket. Rennet is also added if the curds are produced by acidic cultures. Annatto seeds powder is added to color Cheddar cheese at this stage. For specialty cheeses like stilton a different acidic culture and Penicillium roqueforti fungus is used.

Curds are then cooked slowly at approximately 104º F. Expediting the heating process will form skin on the curds and trap moisture. This prevents the cheese from aging properly.

Garden rakes like huge forks are gently run through the curds. Salt is added for flavor and curds are stacked up to drain the liquid. Curds are still soft so they are transferred into molds and weights are placed on the top for further moisture extraction; the lower the moisture, the harder the cheese.

This is a salute to bringing together Labneh and flavors of Houston, where I currently reside. Varieties of these tapas could be as unlimited as one’s imagination. But magic is in achieving balance so that every bite creates a symphony of flavors in the mouth.


Middle Eastern and Mexican tapas

Ingredients

6 tostadas, available in stores selling Mexican food

2-3 heaped tablespoons Labneh

1/4 teaspoon each of cumin and coriander powder

A few mint leaves, finely chopped

Directions

Homogenize Labneh by stirring with a spoon for a couple of minutes. Using a butter knife, gently spread it on tostadas. Sprinkle with a pinch each of the powder and top it with chopped mint.

Ground meat and seasonal fruits are also great for putting over Labneh.

2 Servings.