Serious Cheese: Cheese in the Middle East
"It's not surprising that we're witnessing a cheesemaking resurgence of sorts in that part of the world."
Photograph from dearanxiety on Flickr
Last week, there was an interesting story from the McClatchy newspapers about a group of Italian agronomists helping some Palestinian farmers set up an Italian sheep cheese operation in the West Bank. The dairy goes by the name of Golden Sheep, and produces a small variety of Italian cheeses like pecorino (a generic term for an aged sheep cheese), smoked ricotta, and scamorza (a close relative of mozzarella).
The economy in the West Bank is, for obvious reasons, relatively stagnant, and the agronomists at Italy's Ucodep have launched this development project to help get some money flowing. The target market for the cheese is middle and upper class Palestinians who have lived abroad, as well as foreigners (journalists, diplomats, etc.) stationed in the West Bank.
It's a smart idea to target this admittedly small, but niche, market, and bring them some of the more Western tastes they may be craving.
Across the West Bank barrier, there are some interesting cheeses coming out of Israel these days as well. Hameiri Cheese, a 160-year old producer in the northern Israel town of Safed, makes and sells delicious fresh sheep's cheese similar to unbrined feta. Barkanit, a 30-year old producer also in the north, makes some really nice French-style sheep/goat cheeses like the Selles-sur-Cher-esque Shahat.
The area is, in fact, likely the ancestral home of cheese. Legend has it that the first cheesemakers were Middle Eastern nomadic goat herders who carried milk around in sacks made from the the stomach's of kids (young goats). These stomachs contained the milk-curdling enzymes collectively called rennet, and they would curdle the goat milk contained therein, creating curds and whey—cheese's famous precursors. So it's not surprising that we're witnessing a cheesemaking resurgence of sorts in that part of the world.
But we're not quite at critical mass yet, as evidenced by one of the funniest lines in the McClatchy article:
At local tastings, Palestinians unaccustomed to hard, sharp, Italian cheeses tend to find it unpalatable. "You had to see the faces of the people when they tasted it for the first time," said Matteo Crosetti, a Ucodep project coordinator in the West Bank.
Apparently the Italian cheeses at Golden Sheep can be quite strong-tasting for the locals.
About the author: Jamie Forrest publishes Curdnerds.com from his apartment in Brooklyn, New York, where he lives with his wife, his daughter, and his cheese.
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5 Comments:
Scamorza! Someone told me that this is the "proper" name for the Northeast Pennsylvania "scamutz" that tops Senape's Pitza that I haven't had the pleasure to eat for far too long. Can anyone confirm/deny?
cycorider at 4:04PM on 05/12/09
Cheese - all dairy, really - in Israel is far better than in Canada. I have many fond memories of my visits there and the cheese is among them!
If only cheese could help bring peace. Feed the "enemies" some white cheese, maybe some shakshuka for breakfast.
I've never been to Greece, though. I imagine that I'd be just as happy with the dairy there.
CanadianFoodieGirl at 4:32PM on 05/12/09
@canadianfoodiegirl, what a nice sentiment.... it would be nice if cheese could help bring peace..... we're all the same, a good piece of cheese, a crust of bread .... makes everyone happy.
pooch at 6:09PM on 05/12/09
What an article, and so easily passed over. This is my favorite post on this site to date. Of course, with the Palestinian economy the way it is and the conflict neverending, who knows if there will ever be mass appreciation among the Palestinian society for western cheese?
Food can bring peace, however. There is a kibbutz (for those unfamiliar, a farming collective) in the Negev desert, Yahel, which grows pomelos and engages in all kinds of trade and socializing with the surrounding kibbuzim and the Jordanian farms and settlements which are parallel across the desert. There is coexistance and there is, in the hearts of most, a want for something better, something happier, something safer. I wish... Uch. Well, who knows. Maybe in my lifetime.
Ilana at 2:24PM on 05/13/09
I lived in Israel for a semester and traveled to many places in the Middle East, and the dairy products available are outstanding. I still prefer Israeli cottage cheese to any other - probably because the fat content is higher and it tastes so much creamier. :)
mncheese at 4:09PM on 05/19/09