Domiati cheese (), also referred to as "white cheese" (, ), is a soft white salty

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

made primarily in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, but also in

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

and other

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

ern countries. Typically made from buffalo milk, cow milk, or a mixture, it can also be made from other

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

s, such as sheep, goat or camel milk. It is the most common Egyptian cheese. Unlike

feta Feta ( ; ) is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat milk. It is soft, with small or no holes, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is formed into large blocks and aged in brin ...

and other white cheeses, salt is added directly to the milk, before

rennet Rennet () is a complex set of enzymes produced in the stomachs of ruminant mammals. Chymosin, its key component, is a protease, protease enzyme that curdling, curdles the casein in milk. In addition to chymosin, rennet contains other enzymes, su ...

is added. It is named after the seaport city of

Damietta Damietta ( ' ) is a harbor, port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the Damietta branch, an eastern distributary of the Nile Delta, from the Mediterranean Sea, and about north of Cairo. It was a Cath ...

().

Production

Domiati production involves pasteurizing milk briefly, then salting a portion of it before adding rennet. This method results in a high-moisture, salty cheese, distinct from feta due to its pre-rennet salting. Domiati can be enjoyed fresh or aged in brine for a few months, enhancing its pickled flavor, the cheese gets more acidic as it ages. Usually, no starter culture is added, instead, the bacteria is already present in the milk used will cause the fermentation, the salting and ripening processes give the cheese a feta like texture and taste, it is brittle rather than elastic when broken.

References

Arab cuisine Egyptian cheeses Sudanese cuisine South Sudanese cuisine Water buffalo's-milk cheeses Cow's-milk cheeses Brined white cheeses {{Egypt-cuisine-stub

Production

See also

References