Halloumi

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Halloumi/Hellim
Grilled Halloumi cheese
Country of origin Cyprus
Source of milk Goat, sheep, sometimes cow
Pasteurised Commercially, but not traditionally
Texture Semi-soft
Aging time Commercially not aged
Traditionally aged[citation needed]
Certification No
Commons page [[Commons:Category:Lua error in Module:Wikidata at line 446: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |Related media on Wikimedia Commons]]

Halloumi/həˈluːmi/ (Greek: χαλλούμι) or hellim[1] (Turkish) (from Arabic: حلوم‎‎ ḥallūm [ħalˈluːm]) is a Greek Cypriot semi-hard, unripened brined cheese made from a mixture of goat's and sheep's milk, and sometimes also cow's milk.[2][3][4][5] It has a high melting point and so can easily be fried or grilled. Halloumi is set with rennet[6] and is unusual in that no acid or acid-producing bacterium is used in its preparation.[7]

Halloumi is popular in the Levant, Greece and Turkey.[8][9] It has recently become very popular in the United Kingdom.[10]

Cypriot halloumi

Halloumi cheese originated in Cyprus[8] in the Medieval Byzantine period (AD 395 – 1191),[11] and subsequently became popular throughout the Middle East region.

The cheese is white, with a distinctive layered texture, similar to mozzarella and has a salty flavour. It is stored in its natural juices with salt-water and can keep for up to a year if frozen below −18 °C (0 °F) and defrosted to +4 °C (39 °F) before sale. It is often garnished with mint, a practice based in the belief that halloumi keeps better and stays fresher and more flavoursome when wrapped with mint leaves.[citation needed] In accordance with this tradition, many packages of halloumi contain fragments of mint leaves on the surface of the cheese.

Fresh sliced halloumi

The cheese is often used in cooking and can be fried until brown without melting, owing to its higher-than-normal melting point. This makes it an excellent cheese for frying or grilling (e.g., for saganaki) or fried and served with vegetables, or as an ingredient in salads. Cypriots like eating halloumi with watermelon in the warm months, and as halloumi and lountza – a combination of halloumi cheese and either a slice of smoked pork, or a soft lamb sausage.[citation needed]

The resistance to melting comes from the fresh curd being heated before being shaped and placed in brine.[12] Traditional halloumi is a semicircular shape, about the size of a large wallet, weighing 220–270 g. The fat content is approximately 25% wet weight, 47% dry weight with about 17% protein. Its firm texture when cooked causes it to squeak on the teeth when being chewed.

Traditional halloumi is made from unpasteurised sheep and goat milk. Many people also like halloumi that has been aged; kept in its brine, it is much drier, much stronger and much saltier, making it very different from the milder halloumi generally used in the West.

Halloumi is registered as a protected Cypriot product within the United States (since the 1990s) but not yet in the European Union. The delay in registering the name halloumi with the EU has been largely due to a conflict between dairy producers and sheep and goat farmers as to whether registered halloumi may contain cow’s milk, and how much.[13][14] Most Cypriots agree that, traditionally, halloumi was made from sheep and goat milk, since there were few cows on the island until they were brought over by the British in the 20th century. But as demand grew, industrial cheese-makers began pouring more of the cheaper and more-plentiful cow's milk into their caldrons.[15]

Other countries

Halloumi is also popular in many parts of the Middle East such as Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine. In most of the Arab states, the cheese is called halloum and it is served with meze. In Israel, it is called by its Greek name. Halloumi in Israel is sometimes fried in olive oil and served for breakfast and served with meze. It is also eaten with fish.

Etymology

The name "halloumi" is derived from the Egyptian Arabic, itself a loanword from Coptic halum 'cheese', referring to a cheese that was eaten in medieval Egypt.[16][17] In modern Egypt, hâlûmi is similar to Cypriot "halloumi" but is essentially a different cheese,[clarification needed] is eaten either fresh or brined and spiced.

Nutritional facts

99.7g of commercially produced packaged halloumi has a typical composition of:[18]

Fat 26 g
Carbohydrate 1.8 g
Protein 22 g
Energy 322 kcal
Salt 2.1 g

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Application for the name ‘halloumi’ to go to EU in early 2007, Cyprus Mail archive article - Saturday, September 2, 2006 [1]
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ In Cyprus, New Cheese Edict Gets the Goat of Dairy Farmers Wall Street Journal - October 11, 2012
  16. ↑ Andriotis et al., Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής
  17. ↑ P. Papademas, "Halloumi Cheese", p. 117ff, in Adnan Tamime, ed., Brined Cheeses in the Society of Dairy Technology series, Blackwell 2006, ISBN 1-4051-2460-1
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

  • Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
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