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Halloumi or haloumi (, el, χαλούμι, haloúmi; tr, hellim}) is a traditional Cypriot cheese made from a mixture of goat's and sheep's milk, and sometimes also cow's milk. Its texture is described as squeaky. It has a high
melting point The melting point (or, rarely, liquefaction point) of a substance is the temperature at which it changes state from solid to liquid. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase exist in equilibrium. The melting point of a substance depen ...
and so can easily be fried or
grilled Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat a ...
, a property that makes it a popular meat substitute. Rennet (mostly vegetarian or microbial) is used to
curdle Curdling is the breaking of an emulsion or colloid into large parts of different composition through the physio-chemical processes of flocculation, creaming, and coalescence. Curdling is purposeful in the production of cheese curd and tofu; und ...
the milk in halloumi production, although no acid-producing bacteria are used in its preparation. Halloumi is often associated with the island of
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
, where it has been produced by a multi-ethnic population for many centuries. It is also popular throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. It became widely available in
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
after 2000. By 2013, demand in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
had surpassed that in every other European country except Cyprus. In the United States, ''Halloumi'' is a registered trademark owned by the government of Cyprus, while in the UK it is owned by the Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus named Halloumi. It is also protected as a
geographical indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, ...
in the EU, 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 cows' milk, and (if cows' milk were included) the proportion of it.


Etymology

The English name ''halloumi'' is derived from Modern el, χαλλούμι , ''khalloúmi'', from
Cypriot Maronite Arabic Cypriot Arabic ( ar, العربية القبرصية), also known as Cypriot Maronite Arabic or Sanna, is a moribund variety of Arabic spoken by the Maronite community of Cyprus. Formerly speakers were mostly situated in Kormakitis, but follow ...
''xallúm'', ultimately from Egyptian ar, حلوم . The Egyptian Arabic word is itself a
loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because t ...
from Coptic (
Sahidic Coptic (Bohairic Coptic: , ) is a language family of closely related dialects, representing the most recent developments of the Egyptian language, and historically spoken by the Copts, starting from the third-century AD in Roman Egypt. Coptic ...
) and ( Bohairic), and was used for cheese eaten in
medieval Egypt Following the Islamic conquest in 639, Lower Egypt was ruled at first by governors acting in the name of the Rashidun Caliphs and then the Umayyad Caliphs in Damascus, but in 747 the Umayyads were overthrown. Throughout Islamic rule, Askar ...
. The name of the cheese likely goes back to the
Demotic Demotic may refer to: * Demotic Greek, the modern vernacular form of the Greek language * Demotic (Egyptian), an ancient Egyptian script and version of the language * Chữ Nôm, the demotic script for writing Vietnamese See also * * Demos (disa ...
word ''ḥlm'' "cheese" attested in manuscripts and
ostraca An ostracon ( Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeological or epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer to sherds or even small pieces of ...
from 2nd-century Roman Egypt. The
Cypriot Turkish Cypriot Turkish (''Kıbrıs Türkçesi'') is a dialect of the Turkish language spoken by Turkish Cypriots both in Cyprus and among its diaspora. History Emanating from Anatolia and evolved for four centuries, Cypriot Turkish is the vernacular s ...
name derives from this source, as does the name of the different modern Egyptian cheese .


History

The methods of making halloumi likely originated sometime in the
Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
period (AD 3951191). A recipe for enhancing ''ḥalūm'' ('cheese') by brining is found in the 14th-century Egyptian cookbook كنز الفوائد في تنويع الموائد : ''Kanz al-Fawāʾid fī Tanwīʿ al-Mawāʾid''. The earliest known surviving descriptions of Cypriot halloumi were recorded in the mid-16th century by Italian visitors to
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
,P. Papademas, "Halloumi Cheese", p. 117''ff'', in Adnan Tamime, ed., ''Brined Cheeses''. Society of Dairy Technology series, Blackwell. 2006, where it is often said to have originated. However, the question of whether the recipe for the quintessential halloumi was born in Cyprus and then travelled to Lebanon and the rest of the Levant, or whether the basic techniques of making cheese that resists melting evolved over time in various parts of the eastern Mediterranean—or both—does not have a definitive answer. Traditionally, halloumi was made from sheep and goat milk, since there were few cows on the island until they were brought over by the British in the 20th century. But as demand grew, industrial cheese-makers began using more of the cheaper and more plentiful cow's milk.


Overview and preparation

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) or fried and served with vegetables, or as an ingredient in salads. 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 made from unpasteurised sheep and goat milk. Aged halloumi is also popular. Kept in its brine, it is much drier, much stronger and much saltier. Sealed, halloumi can last in a refrigerator for as long as a year.


Nutritional facts

of commercially produced packaged halloumi typically contains:


See also

* * * * *


References


External links

* * {{African cuisine Arab cuisine Cypriot cuisine Byzantine cuisine Cow's-milk cheeses Goat's-milk cheeses Sheep's-milk cheeses Stretched-curd cheeses Syrian cuisine Palestinian cuisine Iraqi cuisine Israeli cuisine Egyptian cuisine Lebanese cuisine Levantine cuisine Cheeses Cypriot cheeses Middle Eastern cheeses Turkish cheeses