Halloumi

Halloumi or haloumi is a cheese that originated in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is traditionally made from a mixture of goat milk and sheep's milk, and now, due to shortages, it increasingly contains cow's milk or milk from other animals such as buffalos and camels. Its texture is described as "squeaky". It has a high melting point and so can easily be fried or grilled, a property that makes it a popular meat alternative among vegetarians. Rennet (mostly vegetarian or microbial) is used to curdle the milk in halloumi production, although no acid-producing bacteria are used in its preparation.

Due to trademark law, for a cheese to be called "halloumi" in the U.S. or the European Union, it must be produced in Cyprus. The global halloumi market is approximately US$500 million in sales per year and the UK is the largest importer. Halloumi accounts for 13.4% of exports from Cyprus.

Although legend attributes the origin of halloumi to Cyprus, it is unclear if it was first produced there; records of it on the island date to around 1554.

Etymology

The English name ''halloumi'' is derived from Modern , , from Cypriot Maronite Arabic , ultimately from Egyptian .

The Egyptian Arabic word is itself a loanword from Coptic ( Sahidic) and ( Bohairic), and was used for cheese eaten in medieval Egypt. The name of the cheese likely goes back to the Demotic word ''ḥlm'' attested in manuscripts and ostraca from 2nd-century Roman Egypt.

The Cypriot Turkish name derives from this source, as does the name of the different modern Egyptian cheese .

History

Halloumi is thought to have first been made by Bedouins as its preserved qualities were ideal for a nomadic lifestyle. According to folklore, sometime between AD 395 and 867 a herder in Cyprus combined milk from sheep and goats. The herder then heated the cream over a fire, sifted out the curds as they separated from the whey, then formed the curds into blobs and left them to cool.

A recipe for enhancing () by brining is found in the 14th-century Egyptian cookbook ().

The earliest known surviving descriptions of halloumi in Cyprus were recorded around 1554 by Florios Voustroniou, head of the Secretariat in the Venetian administration of Cyprus, where it was called "calumi". The manuscript was transcribed by Leonardo Donato, later Doge of Venice. In 1788, Archimandrite Kyprianos referred to the cheese in his book ''Chronological History of the Island of Cyprus'', where he also noted that the cheese was exported.

Traditionally, Cypriot halloumi was made from sheep and/or goat's milk, since there were few cows on the island until they were introduced by the British in the 20th century. It was typically made by cooperatives formed in villages, typically consisting of 10-15 women; the woman with the most goats led the cooperative. In the early 1940s, authorities began issuing licenses to produce the cheese.

By 2013, demand in the UK had surpassed that in every other European country except Cyprus, where that year, the average resident ate 8 kilograms of halloumi per year.

In 2018, a protocol was signed for the export of halloumi to China and sales surged. This led to a shortage of the cheese, exacerbated by high temperatures that led animals to produce less milk.

As demand grew, industrial cheese-makers began using more of the cheaper and more plentiful cow's milk; by 2019, almost all halloumi exported to the UK used 80% cow's milk.

In 2023, annual production of the cheese exceeded 450,000 tons. The U.S. imported 5,000 tons of halloumi, Japan imported 2,500 tons, and the UK imported 18,000 tons.

Overview and preparation

Although it can be consumed raw, halloumi is often used in cooking and can be fried until brown (without melting) due to its higher-than-typical melting point. This makes it an excellent cheese for frying or grilling (as in saganaki) and serving either as is, or with vegetables, or as an ingredient in salads or sandwiches. There are many recipes that use halloumi beyond simple grilling.

Traditional halloumi is a semicircular shape, weighing . 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 typically made from fresh, unpasteurized sheep and/or goat's milk. However, for its commercial production a mixture of pasteurized sheep, goat and cow's milk is used.

Two main types of halloumi exist: fresh and mature. Fresh halloumi has a semi-hard, elastic texture and a milder, less salty flavor compared to the aged version. As mature halloumi is stored in brine it has a harder, drier texture, as well as a saltier flavor. Both versions have a slight minty flavor, due to the addition of spearmint during the production of the cheese.

Sealed, halloumi (both fresh and mature) can last in a refrigerator for as long as a year.

Production

Production of halloumi cheese involves several key steps:

The first step of halloumi production involves the coagulation of the milk in order to make curds. This occurs by stirring rennet into the milk mixture while keeping it at a temperature of 30–34 °C until the milk coagulates (a process which takes approximately 30–45 minutes). Once the curd is formed it is then cut, reheated and stirred in order to increase its firmness. The curds are then added to special molds and pressed until a sufficient amount of whey has been removed.

The next step of production involves the boiling of the pressed curds in hot whey (collected during the pressing of the curds) for at least 30 minutes, during a process known as scalding. This is the most crucial step in the halloumi production as it contributes to the characteristic texture of the cheese. The cooked pieces are then removed from the whey and are salted and garnished with fresh or dried mint ('' Mentha viridis'') leaves. They are then folded and stored in salted whey for 1–3 days before being packed in airtight containers, ready to be sold and consumed.

For the production of mature halloumi, the cheese needs to be kept in the brine whey for at least 40 days.

Nutritional facts

of commercially produced packaged halloumi branded by Tesco contains:

Legal issues

In the United States, ''Halloumi'' is a registered trademark owned by Cyprus, while in the UK it is owned by the Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus named Halloumi.

It is protected as a geographical indication in the European Union, as a protected designation of origin (PDO), which means, within the EU, only products made in certain parts of Cyprus can be called "halloumi". PDO protection for Halloumi was delayed largely by disagreements among farmers of cattle, sheep, and goats regarding the inclusion of and amount of cows' milk in the cheese.

In 2006, a German enterprise registered the trademark "Gazi hellim"; hellim is the name of the cheese in the Turkish language. The Cypriot dairy producers’ organisation filed a complaint with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, which was rejected.

In popular culture

* Georgios Vizyinos, who lived in Cyprus as a teenager, wrote a poem ''To Ptochon tis Kyprou'' (''Το πτωχόν της Κύπρου'') (1867) that describes eating halloumi cheese in a village.
* The Cypriot surnames Halloumas, Hallouma, Halloumakis, and Halloumis likely relate to halloumi production.

See also

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* Bread cheese
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Notes

References

External links

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{{African cuisine

Brined white cheeses
Byzantine cuisine
Cow's-milk cheeses
Cypriot cheeses
Cypriot cuisine
Egyptian cuisine
Goat's-milk cheeses
Iraqi cuisine
Israeli cheeses
Lebanese cuisine
Middle Eastern cheeses
Palestinian cheeses
Sheep's-milk cheeses
Stretched-curd cheeses
Syrian cheeses
Syrian cuisine
Turkish cheeses