The term Leben, variously laban, liben, lben ( ar, لبن) in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, refers to a food or beverage of fermented milk. Generally, there are two main products known as ''leben'': in the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

region and parts of

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bac ...

; and in Arabia and North Africa (Maghreb),

buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most m ...

. Leben can be served at breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Buttermilk variant

Leben as a drink is traditionally prepared by letting milk ferment for around 24 hours, then churning and removing the butter. The remaining

can keep for several days at room temperature. In modern times, it is produced industrially.

Yogurt variant

Leben in parts of the

is traditionally prepared by boiling

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...

, usually whole milk, then adding yogurt (or previously made, left over/store-bought leben), and then cooled overnight.

In Israel

In the early 20th century, small dairies run by

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

in what was then

Ottoman Palestine Ottoman Syria ( ar, سوريا العثمانية) refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and south ...

began producing the Turkish yogurt variant in quantity. It was called ''leben'', from the Arabic, meaning "white", cognate to the Hebrew "לָבָן"‎‎ (''lavan''). Leben was of extremely high importance to Jews during the British Mandate years, and was considered a dietary staple. During the ''tzena'' (austerity) period that followed independence, leben qualified for the state rationing system and was issued as a basic staple dairy product. Due to its importance during ''tzena'', leben became indelibly ingrained in Israeli culture. In the 1970s, strawberry and chocolate flavoured varieties of leben appeared on store shelves, but these have largely been supplanted by fruit-flavoured yogurts, and the only leben available is unflavoured.

References

External links

* {{Cuisine of Lebanon Arab cuisine Israeli cuisine Bahraini cuisine Emirati cuisine Jordanian cuisine Kuwaiti cuisine Lebanese cuisine Levantine cuisine Palestinian cuisine Omani cuisine Saudi Arabian cuisine Syrian cuisine Fermented dairy products Non-alcoholic drinks Yogurt-based drinks Milk-based drinks

Buttermilk variant

Yogurt variant

In Israel

See also

References

External links