Fresh Cheese

You should use a yogurt that does not have added thickeners or stabilizers, such as pectin, gelatine or starch. Make sure to read your label! I used Astro Balkan Plain Yogurt 6%M.F. , Phoenicia Plain Yogurt 2% and homemade yogurt from 2% milk. From my experience, Phoenicia’s yoghurt makes the nicest curds.

Fresh cheese can be used in recipes that need cream cheese. It can also be spread on bread and served with olive oil. I like to put it in green salads or couscous.

Ingredients:
2 tsps sugar
4 cups plain yogurt (2 lbs)

• Mix the sugar with the yogurt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for several minutes, until the curds begin to separate from the clear whey.

• Pour the boiled yogurt into a strainer lined with several layers of cheese cloth, or a large paper coffee filter. Let it drain for a few hours.

• Take the cheese out from the filter or cheesecloth. Keep it in an air-tight container in the fridge. It should keep for more than a week.

You can drain the cheese more if you want it to be harder. Wrap your cheese in cheesecloth, put it on down on a board, place a heavy plate on top of it, then add a weight on top. Let the cheese drain for a few hours.

You can also mix in spices such as paprika, black pepper or zaatar (spice mix with thyme), and serve with a dash of olive oil.