So Many Cheeses - So Little Time..

In the Region Where Cheese was Discovered, it's no Wonder that There are so Many Varieties of Cheeses in the Cuisine Today.

It's small wonder that in the region where cheese was discovered, many thousands of years ago, there is such a variety of cheeses to choose from today. Legend has it that cheese was discovered somewhere in the Arabian Desert, when a nomadic herdsman put some fresh milk into his goatskin and when out into the hot desert for a journey. When he opened in the skin for a drink, he found that the character of the milk had changed considerably and it was now mainly a solid - with a smell and texture unlike anything he had ever seen before. Probably driven by hunger - he tentatively took that first taste, and proclaimed it a gift from the gods. As fanciful as the old legend may seem, food historians pretty much agree that it's probably one of the most likely and logical scenario for that first cheesemaking experience, accidental as it had to have been.

For starters, the essential ingredient in turning milk into cheese - as opposed to just sour milk - is rennet and rennet comes from the rennin enzyme found in the stomachs of animals like sheep, goats and cows. "Goatskins," of course, get their names from the fact that they begin life as a goat (or sheep's) stomach. Add the intense heat of the Arabian Desert and the motion of walking - or whatever conveyance cheese's founding father might have had and you get...cheese. Well, actually, you get something more akin to curds and whey - but after a little tinkering with the original product, you can see how so many varieties of cheese came into being.

Cheeses in the Middle East range from the soft and fresh products similar to fresh cream cheese or cottage cheese - like the Lebanese Labne or the many varieties of Basket Cheeses and fresh goat cheeses - to hard and/or strong cheeses that are often grilled or fried as part of the mezze table.

Greek cheeses like Halumi, Kasseri or Kephalotyri are classic cheeses for frying or grilling, although nearly any hard, strong cheese can be prepared this way. (I often include Greek cooking in Middle Eastern food discussions because so much of the cuisine is more allied with Armenian and Turkish cooking than it is with Mediterranean styles...although all discussions of World Food needs to be viewed on a continuum, not blocked off into cultures, with the assumption being made that people have always traded, talked and intermarried with each other).

From Cairo to Istanbul, Athens to Beirut, fried cheeses, charcoaled over a hot fire in large pans, and turned as each side melts, are served with bread and a squeeze of lemon.

I also know of a 19th century Turkish cookbook, written for the household instruction of women by Sidqi Effendi, that describes grilling cheese in this way:

"Put a portion of cheese in silver paper. Wrap it up and put it over a fire. when the paper starts to glow the cheese is ready to eat and deliciously creamy."

Today, I suggest you try aluminum foil.

Effendi goes on to say that, prepared this way, "...this is good food which enhances sex for married men."

I'm guessing that the author would agree with the old adage that "a way to a man's heart in through his stomach..."

I will be posting more about the cheeses of individual countries in the next few days. For starters, check out: Syrian Cheeses.