Halloumi

The curd cooked in its own whey until it floats, which is what makes it squeak and stops it melting.

Not vegetarian — contains rennet the source does not identify as animal or microbial.

Ingredients

4 litres sheep's and goat's milk, in any mixture
1 rennet tablet, or 1 teaspoon liquid rennet
3 tablespoons cold water
2 tablespoons salt, for the brine
a handful of dried mint

Method

THE CURD IS COOKED IN ITS OWN WHEY UNTIL IT FLOATS, and that single step is why halloumi squeaks and why it does not melt. Most cheeses are set, drained and then left alone; this one is cut, drained, and then returned to the whey it came out of and simmered in it for about forty minutes. The heat denatures the proteins all the way through, so they lock into a structure that will not flow again even in a frying pan -- which is the entire reason you can grill a slice of halloumi and it browns instead of running. The floating is the signal: the pieces sink when they go in and rise as they firm, and a piece that has risen is cooked. Drained and pressed without that stage you have a pleasant fresh white cheese that melts like any other.
THE WHEY IS KEPT AND IS NOT A BY-PRODUCT. Once the halloumi is lifted out, the pan still holds four litres of hot whey, and the anari on the next page is made from it. Poured away, which is what normally happens, the second cheese is impossible.
IT IS SET AT BLOOD HEAT AND LEFT ABSOLUTELY STILL. The milk is warmed to about 37°C, the rennet stirred through quickly, and the pan not touched for an hour. Moving it while the curd is forming breaks it into grains that pass through the cloth and are lost.
THE MINT GOES ON AFTER THE COOKING, NOT INTO THE MILK. Dried mint pressed onto the warm, drained blocks and folded inside them. In the milk it would be boiled for an hour in the whey and taste of hay; pressed on warm, it perfumes the surface and stays green.
IT IS FOLDED IN HALF WHILE STILL WARM AND PLIABLE. That fold is what gives a block of halloumi its shape and the seam down one side. Left to cool flat it will not fold without cracking, and the mint has nowhere to go.
The milk warmed slowly to 37°C -- barely warm on the wrist -- in a large pan.
The rennet dissolved in the 3 tablespoons of cold water and stirred through quickly and thoroughly.
THE PAN LEFT ABSOLUTELY STILL 1 HOUR. Not moved, not touched.
TESTED: a finger pushed in at the edge should leave a CLEAN BREAK, not a smear.
The curd cut into 2 cm cubes with a long knife and left 10 minutes to settle.
Lifted gently into a cloth-lined colander and drained 30 MINUTES, pressed lightly into a slab. THE WHEY KEPT IN THE PAN.
The slab cut into blocks about 8 cm by 5 cm.
The reserved whey brought to a bare simmer and the blocks lowered in.
Simmered 35 to 45 MINUTES. They will sink and then RISE.
WATCHED FOR THEM TO FLOAT: a block that has risen to the surface is cooked. Any still sitting on the bottom need longer.
Lifted out onto a tray and, WHILE STILL WARM, sprinkled with the dried mint and FOLDED IN HALF, mint inside.
The whey KEPT HOT for the anari on its own page.
The folded blocks cooled, then kept in a brine of 2 tablespoons salt to 500 ml of the cooled whey. Keeps a month.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Cyprus · All recipes