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.)
Bil’im is in the background. The barrier wall erected by Israel is in the foreground.
The barrier wall is in the forground, illegal Israeli mining and beyond, newly constructed Israeli settlement
The people of this brave village stand as an example to the world of how non-violent resistance can successfully resist injustice and military might. Israel has been confiscating all “unoccupied” Palestinian land. Israel defines “unoccupied” as any land on which no occupied structure exists. Thus, olive orchards, vineyards, agricultural land, grazing land are all being confiscated. These ancient Bil’im olive orchards, lovingly tended for many centuries (see the terracing in the picture below) are all officially “unoccupied.”
Once “unoccupied” lands are confiscated, Israel nearly always refuses to grant building permits to Palestinians, but readily grants them to Israeli settlers to erect new settlements, thus ever increasing Israeli lands and ever diminishing Palestinian lands.
This process was being inflicted on the village of Bil’im, a village of 1,500 residents.
They embarked on a long series of imaginative non-violent protests. Israel’s response was to occupy the village, place it under curfew, tear gas the citizens, including tossing tear gas into their mosque.
I stayed with the Samara family, and was treated to feast after feast.
They were the most generous and congenial hosts one could imagine–demonstrating that famous Middle Eastern hospitality is indeed world class.
Children of Bil’im, when offered crayons, drew, with no prompting what so ever, scenes of Israel occupation, and the construction of the barrier wall.
Behind the Samara home, children played soccer on a rocky field.
We got historical background on the local resistance to the occupation from a number of experts.
Towards evening, the Earlham group hiked out along a ridge towards an Israel mining operation wich is in violation of international law.
We passed through the remnants of ancient olive orchards (many were chain sawed or bulldozed down. Many of the most ancient trees (known by name to the Palestinians) were stolen by the Israelis, to be replanted in the new Israeli settlements as decorative trees in traffic circles …). Protestors chained themselves in the trees to prevent them from being chainsawed
The one you see below is at least 1,000 years old. The next image is a hole from which an acient olive tree has been stolen.
ou can see the barrier erected by Israel which separates the citizens of Bil’im off from their agricultural land.
We passed through an Israeli checkpoint (no pictures allowed)
We passed through an Israeli checkpoint (no pictures allowed)
You can see the village of Bil’im in the background.
We got a lecture on the history of the Israeli take over of the land from a Fatah candidate for local elected office. (He was not elected–the people voted for Hamas candidates out of protest of corruption in the Fatah party, and because Hamas took many positive steps to assist citizens and students with the problems they face.)
you look towards the west, you see the new construction of several new Israeli settlements.
you look towards the west, you see the new construction of several new Israeli settlements.
This picture was taken the next day and show also a huge mining operation with Israelis operate, in violation of the Geneva Convention which states that occupying forces will not exploit or take natural resources from the occupied country
This picture was taken the next day and show also a huge mining operation with Israelis operate, in violation of the Geneva Convention which states that occupying forces will not exploit or take natural resources from the occupied country
After Israel declaired the agricultural land “unoccupied”, the citizens of Bil’im were able to bring rudimentary building materials onto the site and erect a shelter.
Since its erection, the shelter has been occupied 24/7, making the land officially “occupied.”
Since its erection, the shelter has been occupied 24/7, making the land officially “occupied.”
At sunrise the next morning, I found an egg “factory” next door…
…and a view of the VERY twisty-turny road we traversed on in our SPEEDY taxi to Bil’im. A trip to remember!
Mr. Samara and I spent some “quality time” before breakfast touring his garden, the first plant is Mulukhiyya, a green used as seasoning in a number of Palestinian dishes.
This image is zahtar, a delicious form of thyme, served with sesame and salt by dipping pita in olive oil and then in dried zahtar–yum) picking okra.
He demonstrated his technique for grafting grape vines.
We visited his daughter-in-laws goats…
…and were then were served a typical (lavish) Palestinian breakfast.
We took a tour of Bil’im, past policital slogans painted on walls (this one promotes Hamas)…
…and visited the mosque into which Israel had tossed tear gas.
Eating again????
A fabulous lunch indeed, with the proud patriarch beaming next to his VERY hard working wife.
Young men of the Samara family with which I stayed, including Walied Samara (right) who taught me several new steps to the Debki–the national dance of Palestine. THANK YOU Walied–I loved the dancing!
Ohrid is a lovely gem of a town located near the border of Albania. It hosts a famous music/arts festival in the summer. It possesses an ancient fortress and a Roman theater. Ohrid’s pedestrian way ends at a beautiful waterfront.
Bitola, in southern Macedonia, is home to our wonderful cheese making friend Nicolce. He gave us the grand tour which included Macedonian dancing with a live band, with some beautiful and talented young women from a local performance group.
The stoves for sale on the streets of Bitola are used to grill paprika peppers to prepare them for winter storage.
These pictures were taken during a whirlwind ten days traversing through Macedonia from Istanbul to Durres Albania, then by ferry across to Bari Italy, and train to Roma.
We will have MUCH more to say about our experiences, but I must first say that we continue to be impressed and gratified at the hospitality and generosity of people we meet around the world. Macedonians have a rich cultural history and have done well at preserving it.
Click on the image to enlarge it OR click on the text to reveal an additional photo gallery:
Northern Greece has been influenced over the millennia but a wide variety of occupiers, each leaving their own cultural traces. Edessa, for instance shows Turkish influence in its architecture.
One often sees herds of sheep and/or goats being shepherded alongside the roads. The milk from these herds makes fabulous local cheeses!
David Fankhauser 