Today we’re going to talk about Haloumi Cheese. Some people have heard of this, and some haven’t. You either know it and use it often because it’s delicious, or you haven’t really heard about it and are hesitant to try it because it’s an unusual cheese. It’s one of the only cheeses that’s usually eaten cooked brown on the outside. So, let’s talk about haloumi cheese.
Haloumi has a rich history that goes back several centuries. It’s from the Eastern Mediterranean region – traditionally associated with Cyprus from the Mediterranean, but both Greek and Turkish people claim haloumi as a key part of their culinary heritage. There are early written references from the medieval period to a cheese that sounds similar to it. Some people say haloumi dates back to the 10th century in the Byzantine Empire.
The name “haloumi” is said to be derived from the Coptic Egyptian word “halom”, meaning “cheese”, so it might even have older connections to Egypt. During the Ottoman Rule of Cyprus in the 1500s to the 1800s, haloumi became widespread throughout the Middle East, and then spread into North Africa.
Traditionally, it’s made from goats and sheep’s milk combined, but sometimes more modern recipes use cow’s milk. It’s unique in that it’s un-ripened and it’s semi hard. It has a very high melting point, so it can be grilled or fried, and it doesn’t lose its shape like other cheese does. It’s also brined, giving it a salty flavor, and a longer shelf life, which is important in the Mediterranean, especially before refrigeration, as it’s very hot there.
[Music] hi friends I’m Karen and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast we’re talking about inspiration for family cooking and [Music] dining today we’re going to talk about halomi cheese some people have heard of this and some not you either know it and use it often because it’s delicious or you haven’t really heard about it and are a bit hesitant to try it because it’s an unusual cheese one of the only cheeses that’s usually eaten cooked brown on the outside so let’s talk about halomi cheese halomi has a rich history that goes back several centuries kind of from the eastern Mediterranean region traditionally associated with Cyprus from the Mediterranean but both Greek and Turkish people claim halomi as a key part of their culinary heritage from the medieval period the earliest written references to a cheese that sounds similar to halomi some people say halumi date back to the 10th century in the Byzantine Empire the name Haleumi is said to have derived from the Coptic Egyptian word halum meaning cheese so it might even have older connections to Egypt then during the Ottoman rule of Cyprus in the 1500s to 1800s haleumi became widespread throughout the Middle East and then into North Africa so traditionally it’s made from goats and sheep’s milk combined but sometimes more modern recipes use cow’s milk it’s unique in that it’s unripened and it’s semih hard it has a very high melting point so it can be grilled or fried and it doesn’t lose its shape like other cheese does it’s also brined giving it a salty flavor and then a longer shelf life which is important in the Mediterranean especially before refrigeration when it’s very hot there so the method of making halomi was developed as a as a practical way to preserve the milk in the region’s hot climate families or village communities would make halumi in batches and then store it in brine or wrap it in mint leaves the mint help to preserve the cheese and deter mold from growing these days it’s very popular globally in the UK the EU the Middle East for its unique texture and versatility and then it was given the protected designation of origin status in the EU so now only traditional methods can be officially used to make halomi and sell it so let’s talk about how it’s made so the mixture of sheep and goats milk is used and then an enzyme to coagulate the milk called the renet unlike most other cheeses it doesn’t use a starter culture and then salt would be added and sometimes it’s folded between layers of mint leaves so the milk would gently be heated to around 32 Celsius or 90 fah then the renet would be added to coagulate the milk no starter culture as I said then it would be left to rest for about half an hour and form a soft curd the curd would then be cut into small cubes like mozzarella to release the whey and then it’s allowed to sit and gently stirred then the curds would be heated again to about 38° C or 100 fah for another half an hour or a bit longer and then the curds are left to settle and then they’d be scooped out and placed into a cheese mold or a muslin lined basket to drain drains the way and then lightly pressed to expel more way and start to shape the cheese then this part is unusual for cheese making the cheese blocks would be cooked in the hot way until they float this cooking step gives it its characteristic rubbery texture and also the high melting point so after this cooking the cheeses are salted and folded and then they may be salted by hand or placed in brine so the halomi can be stored in the brine or dry salted and kept cool traditionally it’s aged for a few days to a few weeks although it can be eaten fresh so then how is it used and how is it cooked it’s one of the most versatile cheeses in the kitchen it’s salty it’s chewy you can do it on the grill first let’s talk about how it’s prepared once once it’s made so preparing halomi is quick but it’s definitely unusual as far as cheese goes it has a high melting point as I said and it holds its shape beautifully when it’s cooked so pan frying this is the most popular most common method i do enjoy this method myself but I’ve also done the oven method or grilled so you would use um haleri and then something like coconut oil or olive oil to cook it in so you would cut it up into 1 cm thick slices that’s about half an inch or you can cut it into cubes but then you need to brown all the sides depending on what you’re going to use it for you may want to pat it dry if it’s been in a brine then you would heat a pan over medium heat and you add a tiny bit of your oil then as you add the slices to the pan move them around gently in the oil so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan so you add your slices or your cubes and then you cook for one or two minutes per side until it’s golden brown and crispy you may want to add a little bit of salt depending on how salty your halomi is i’ve seen some kinds already quite salty other kinds need a bit of salt i also like to add a little bit of lemon juice over it it’s delicious you can do that when you take it out of the pan or while it’s in the pan so again make sure your pan is hot enough before you put the halomi in if you start with a cold pan the halomi starts to melt before it actually gets crispy so you want a nice hot pan add the halomi cook a little bit on each side and then you get that night that nice brown crispy effect then grilled halomi you preheat your grill and you grill it on each side or you put it in the oven under the grill and then again you can sprinkle a bit of olive oil and salt and grill each side for a few minutes keep a close eye on it and you’ll see it’ll sort of start to bubble and look crispy on top so then you can use it for a number of things the end I’m going to mention a couple of recipes in our elegant easy appetizers cookbook for halomi you can use it for a protein substitute vegetarians enjoy halomi it’s a good meat substitute because it adds that something substantial to your salad or to whatever you’re eating so you can do grilled or fried halomi instead of meat in salads sandwiches etc you can do it on skewers and kebabs so use the cubed version and intersperse it with vegetables to grill you can put it as as a topping um perhaps on top of a salad or on top of vegetables or you can use it inside a wrap or a taco or a pita bread crumbled or diced with whatever else you putting in there for breakfast or brunch you can serve pieces of halomi with your eggs or your toast and bacon it is quite rich so maybe bacon plus halomi is a little bit much it’s nice to use it with the egg and toast though in Middle Eastern platters they will add it to breakfast wraps then in salads or on top of salads it adds that salty richness and texture or simply as a st standalone appetizer with lemon wedges a dip like sweet chili sauce or hummus so the first recipe we do in the book is a pushuto wrapped halomi stick as an appetizer so you simply cut up your halomi into long sticks and you wrap each stick in a piece of pushut and then you fry it pan fry it as I mentioned on each side and serve it with a sweet chili sauce dip that is amazing and my favorite way to do it the other one is using zucchini or marrow green marrow and you slice it with a vegetable peeler into thin strips then you steam the strips and mix in a little bit of basil pesto it shouldn’t be over steamed cuz it will disintegrate so just steamed until it’s nice to eat with a little basil pesto mixed in to that zucchini then you can also this part is optional you can also steam some pieces of red pepper or yellow pepper and mix those up with a little bit of olive oil and salt so then you’ve got these two vegetables and then you grill your halomi sticks and you put them on top they taste amazing with just the zucchini but it’s also wonderful with the red pepper and then those three things together make an amazing appetizer bit of lemon juice over the top very delicious then you can use halomi in a curry it won’t melt it’ll hold its shape and it has a chewy texture mediterranean stews they use it in those halomi with watermelon is an unusual one this is a classic cypriot summer dish cold watermelon and warm halomi slices with a bit of mint and olive oil halomi salad would be just mixed greens cherry tomatoes cucumber olives and then some cubes of halomi with a lemon vinegrett grilled halomi or deep fried halomi is similar to fries you can use it as halomi fries with a dipping sauce then I mentioned already wraps or pita breads warm flatbread stuffed with the grilled halomi and your other salad ingredients so it’s really nice when it’s warm cuz it adds something to the salad if you have a cold salad and a little bit of a warm cheese that’s really nice you can use it in halomi burgers so thick slices of grilled halomi in place of the patty or you could have your beef patty with some slices of halomi on top and add in some roasted red pepper or pesto in there too uh in your tacos you can use the pan fried halomi with avocado with um cabbage saw and a lime chili dressing is an amazing flavor halomi pasta you can toss your fried halomi cubes into the pasta with tomatoes and olives fresh herbs fresh basil a halomi shakshuka chunks of halomi to a tomato-based shakshuka and even to a vegetable stir fry so you would cook the halomi first brown it on each side and then you saute your vegetables and add back the cubes of halomi with a splash of soy sauce and some sesame seeds and then halomi stuffed peppers or mushrooms so you would bake you cook up your halomi you bake your vegetables mix them together perhaps add a grain like quinoa and then stuff your mushrooms with that delicious a Turkish breakfast spread is a great way to enjoy your halomi so the highlight of the dish is your grilled or your fried halomi so you would slice it into your slices and cook it and then on the side you could have a fresh vegetables platter with sliced tomatoes cucumbers peppers radishes you could have an olives marinated olives bowl a bread selection with sesame bread or tossed pita bread you could have some sweet jams or spreads tahini some other cheeses and some kind of eggs boiled eggs pho pastry rolls filled with cheese and Turkish black tea all served at the same time in little bowls and elegant spread turkish cuisine also uses halomi in a pastry so savory pastry made with pho dough can be filled with grated halomi cheese so you would grate it before you cook it and that would be a very different experience different texture then you would add a bit of mint or parsley and then bake the pastry until it’s done then kris cough tessi if that’s how it’s said is a criate style meatball recipe with grated halomi mixed into the potato and herb mixture and that can be done with or without the meat also there’s a Turkish flatbread which can be topped with halomi and tomato peppers etc and sometimes egg then from the Greek side of things halumi saganaki so this is a twist on the famous cheese saganaki dish and it’s basically thick slices of halomi which are pan fried till golden and crispy and served with lemon and then with a crusty bread or halomi with ladera which is vegetables in olive oil so it would be served with a Greek vegetable stew like roasted vegetables in olive oil or green beans and tomato sauce and then the halomi adds that salty richness and the protein to these vegetable dishes the halumi mez plate would be uh Greek mezetta spread olives dolmades which are those stuffed vine leaves tatsiki pita breads roasted peppers and of course the grilled halomi a perfect appetizer or a light dinner and then the spanacopita so the spinach pie but the halomi is added to the usual feta spinach filling to give it extra texture and saltiness halomi pita wraps so grilled halomi stuffed into a warm pa bread with tomato onion lettuce cucumber and then satsiki or hummus and then halomi pasta with Greek flavors pasta tossed with the grilled halomi cubes that have been cooked most of these dishes except for the grated halomi will be with cooked halomi there’s cherry tomatoes spinach olives capers and a bit of olive oil in that pasta so it always goes well with olive oil lemon juice and salt and that’s all you need but it’s sometimes paired with a bit of mint and then the dips things like tatiki hummus i like the sweet chili sauce and then vegetables and salad salad ingredients like the tomato the cucumber the arugula grilled vegetables etc so try it on its own first cook up some in a pan get it nice and crispy and golden and then try some in your oven you can even do it on a bake setting just watch until it looks ready and try both of those you may find you enjoy one more than the other you prefer one style find your favorite style and then try it with a few different dips try it with sweet chili sauce try it with simply lemon juice um sprinkled on top before you eat it and try it with different meals try it with a salad try it with a breakfast try it in a dinner or with some steamed vegetables like the zucchini and red pepper and find your favorite ways to have it maybe try the pushutto wrapped one and you may find that you have something to add to your dinner rotation that you really enjoy that enhances your salads enhances your side dishes and even your main dish halomi is truly one of the most amazing cheeses out there it’s unique and most people haven’t actually tried it so why don’t you try it use it for one of your new family fun night appetizers or just a a fun family dinner time with something new i hope you’re brave enough to try let me know what you think if you’d like to see our recipe book it’s on family food form.com it’s called Elegant Easy Appetizers and all the appetizers are simple with five ingredients and they’re easy to make for a family dinner but they look elegant and they add some class to your your meal thanks for listening i hope you have a fabulous week i’ll see you next time [Music]