Areesheh cheese
November 24, 2013 • Category: Eggs/Dairy/Cheese
This cheese, served with a drizzle of honey, used to be an old-fashioned dessert served at all rural restaurants. It is similar to ricotta from the standpoint of its texture; made by a local artisan dairy farm, it is a real treat: At once light and with the ethereal taste of pure cream, it does not feel like a sin to eat gobs of it in one sitting. In a recent wedding I attended, a booth was even set-up in which people could get their fill of areesheh with different local honeys to choose from.
This was a booth at the wedding with areesheh and different honeys to savor it with.
Comments
18 Comments • Comments Feed
Rosa says:
Delicious and fresh!
Cheers,
Rosa
On November 24, 2013 at 3:35 am
Tamar says:
I just post a comment in your FB page…. thank you very much for telling us what to do with remaining whey in such a tasty way…
On November 24, 2013 at 3:52 am
Joelle says:
Joumana you’re a genius!! I am just making labneh from yogurt, I’m going to try this in a couple of hours. How much whey will I need? I get about 3 cups each time I drain the yogurt should I use them all? I usually add a cup to my toddlers morning oatmeal for extra nutrients.
On November 24, 2013 at 3:55 am
Belinda @zomppa says:
What a great idea to have a bar of honey!
On November 24, 2013 at 6:52 am
Sarah Galvin says:
Such a nice way to use whey. I have been needing a recipe like this. Thank you.
On November 24, 2013 at 8:27 am
PJ says:
This sounds like the Indian cottage cheese / Paneer! I have never tried it with honey / sugar. Use it regularly in savory dishes / gravies. Btw,Love your click!
On November 24, 2013 at 9:02 pm
Gabi says:
A honeybar makes me turn green with envy. I’ld like to have been a guest. And what an omen at a wedding. I wish them luck and lots of honey-days.
On November 25, 2013 at 12:16 pm
Joumana says:
@Gabi: They now have a darling little baby boy.
On November 25, 2013 at 1:40 pm
Ozlem's Turkish Tabl says:
So delicious Joumana, I loved the combination with honey – it reminds me of taze cokelek cheese my grandma used to make in Antioch – you now inspired me 🙂
On November 26, 2013 at 8:47 am
Providence says:
I just had some whey available, so I decided to give this recipe a try. I had approximately 2 cups whey, to which I added the milk and lemon. I followed the instructions and got… nothing. Just a pan full of whey, milk and lemon. Any idea what may have turned wrong ? Thank you !
On November 26, 2013 at 9:03 pm
Joumana says:
@Providence: I tested the recipe a while back making a white cheese first and using the whey leftover; when I made the cheese, I used rennet tablet. I will test the recipe again. Did you boil the whey first before adding the milk? The milk is stirred until it curdles (which is helped by the add of lemon juice); then it is removed and cooled and the curds are collected and drained for areesheh;. Sorry for the problem. I will pull out the recipe until I retest it.
https://www.tasteofbeirut.com/2011/08/farmers-cheese-homemade-jeben-baladi/
https://www.tasteofbeirut.com/2011/08/ricotta-lebanese-style-areesheh/
These two recipes, I tested in my kitchen and they did not give me any trouble. Did you dump all your whey and milk? I would re-use them with a rennet tablet, just to see.
and if you are into cheese-making, this is a recipe from an Armenian lady who got it from her grandmother; I pulled it out because she told me it had been used with the image on other sites without linking to my blog; so I am reposting it for a little while.
https://www.tasteofbeirut.com/2010/06/spiced-hoop-cheese-surquig-or-shankleesh/
On November 27, 2013 at 12:52 am
Providence says:
Thanks for your prompt answer, Joumana !
I didn’t boil the whey before adding milk, I just mixed all the ingredients and boiled the whole mixture. I then stirred the content for a long time, without getting any texture change.
Do you think the overall quantity of whey may affect the outcome ? Or may be you used non-homogenized milk ?
I don’t have rennet tablets available right now, but I’ll buy some, because I really want to try this recipe ! For now I just dumped the milk and whey, never mind !
Thanks for sharing the links, I’ll definitely have a look on them. And don’t worry, it’s the only failure I had so far while implementing your wonderful recipes, and this will not keep me of trying again 😉
Thank you !
On November 27, 2013 at 1:26 pm
Marcus says:
Hi Joumana, I bookmarked your recipe for felafel loaf but now it’s gone! Do you have another link for it. Looking forward to making this again!
On November 27, 2013 at 10:18 pm
Oui, Chef says:
Oohhh…like an ice cream sundae bar but even BETTER!
On November 29, 2013 at 9:28 am
wifeofleb says:
Hey I am trying to find the recipe fro Areesh cheese but cant find it!
https://www.tasteofbeirut.com/2011/08/ricotta-lebanese-style-areesheh/ ?
On January 29, 2016 at 11:25 am
Joumana says:
@wifeofleb: try this link, it should work/
https://www.tasteofbeirut.com/ricotta-lebanese-style-areesheh/
On February 3, 2016 at 11:43 pm
wifeofleb says:
I have access to raw mil from the local farmer. I just boiled the raw milk trying to pasturise it and it curdled and i think i got Areesh that my husband promptly scooped out. But not sure…..
On January 29, 2016 at 11:28 am
Joumana says:
@wifeofleb: I will retrieve the link for you.
On February 3, 2016 at 11:41 pm