I was privileged to stay with the Samara family in Bil’im, a village in occupied West Bank of Palestine. It is a village surrounded by olive orchards, vineyards, family gardens, and grazing lands on which goats and sheep are grazed. I was fortunate to be able to see Mr. Samara’s daughter-in-law prepare Haloumi, a Palestinian White Cheese almost always served with breakfast.
If you need a primer course on how to make cheese, see in information in the “Related” section below.
Ingredients
1 gallon milk
1/4 cup fresh active yogurt
1/2 tablet rennet
2 oz. Kosher salt
Supplies
1.5 gallon stainless steel pot, thick bottom
Large white handkerchief, boiled
colander
3 quart plastic tub with lid
Procedure
1) Warm 1 gallon milk in stainless steel pot to 32 C.
2) Dissolve ½ tablet of rennet in ¼ c water. (You may use 1 tablet for more rapid setting.) Meanwhile, suspend 1/4th cup yogurt in ½ cup milk.
3) With continuous stirring, slowly add the dissolved rennet and the suspended yogurt to evenly distribute.
4) Cover the pot and let sit undisturbed at room temperature until you get a clean break (see the basic cheese page), about an hour.
5) Cut the curds as instructed on the basic cheese page, to produce curds about ½ inches in diameter.
6) Cover again, let the curds sit to firm up for 10 min.
7) Pour the curds into a sterile cloth suspended in a colander. Hang the cloth, allow to drain for 6 hours in a cool place (in the fridge in the Summer). Save the whey for “cooking” and making brine.
8) Remove the ball of cheese and cut into 6 pieces. 9) “Cook” the cheese: bring the whey to 45 C, and add the 6 pieces. Keep at 45 C for an hour.
10) Remove the cheeses from the whey, salt the surface, and chill for several hours.
11) Bring ½ gallon of the whey to the boil, add 2 ounces Kosher salt (1/4 cup), stir to dissolve, cover and let cool. 12) Transfer the cheeses to the cooled whey in a plastic tub with a lid. Place in the fridge. You may eat it immediately, but the flavor improves after several weeks or a month.
It is often served at breakfast with hard boiled eggs, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, pita and coffee. (The cut haloumi is in the lower right of the image.)
David Fankhauser 