List of Syrian cheeses


This is a list of Syrian cheeses. There are numerous varieties of Syrian cheese found throughout the Levant such as the Kenafa, Surke, Baladi, and Tresse.

Types of cheese

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

Ackawi

is a white cheese with a complex flavor. It is an Arab cheese originating from the town of Acre, Israel. The 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, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Cyprus.

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.

Charkassiyea

Charkassiyea is a soft, fresh cheese.

Jibneh Arabieh

is a simple cheese found throughout the Middle East and is particularly popular in Egypt and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf. The cheese has an open texture and a mild taste. While the product orginated with Bedouins, using goat or sheep milk, current practice is to use cow's milk. Jibneh Arabieh is used for cooking, or simply as a table cheese.

Jibne Baida

Jibne Baida is a hard white cheese with a pronounced salty taste, often boiled before eating.

Kenafa

is an unsalted, very fresh, soft cheese that melts easily. It is used to make the popular "cheesecake" like dessert that is sometimes called Kenafa, mainly in the Levant and Egypt. It can also be used as a base for other sweet cheese desserts. It is sold frozen because there is no salt in it and is available in both retail and bulk packages.

Majdoule

Majdoule is a salty white cheese made up of thick strands of cheese braided together.

Shelal

Shelal is a salty white cheese made up of strands of cheese woven together.

Surke

, also called sorke or shanklish, is a mature cheese made with spices and generally presented as balls covered in za'tar orchile powder; most often eaten as a starter dish with tomato, oil and sometimes onion.

Tresse cheese

, also known by its Arabic name Jibneh Mshallaleh is a form of string cheese originating in Syria.

Turkomani

Turkomani is a soft porous cheese with a delicate flavor.

Other milk products

Kashta

Kastha is a heavy cream that is very popular in the Middle East. Traditionally, it is made by skimming the thickest part of the cream from whey. The product is used both as an ingredient in cooking and is mixed with honey to be eaten as a very rich dessert. It has a sixty-day refrigerated shelf life.