Shanklish ( ''shanklīsh'' or شنغليش ''shanghlīsh''), also known as chancliche, shinklish, shankleesh, sorke, sürke, or eddesh, is a type of cow or sheep milk
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 ...
The origins of the name are unknown; some theorize it is of Turkish origin.
Preparation
Shanklish is made by
curdling
Curdling is the breaking of an emulsion or colloid into large parts of different composition through the physio-chemical processes of flocculation, creaming (chemistry), creaming, and coalescence (chemistry), coalescence. Curdling is purposeful ...
yogurt
Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...
, straining it, and fermenting it. It is typically formed into balls of approximately 6 cm diameter, often covered in za'atar and
Aleppo pepper
The Aleppo pepper (, ALA-LC: ''fulful Ḥalabī''; ) is a moderately spicy variety of ''Capsicum annuum'' used as a spice, particularly in Turkish, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. Also known as the Halaby pepper, its pods are ripened ...
, and then aged and dried.
The most common spice is
thyme
Thyme () is a culinary herb consisting of the dried aerial parts of some members of the genus ''Thymus (plant), Thymus'' of flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are native to Eurasia and north Africa. Thymes have culinary, medici ...
, which gives the cheese an appearance somewhat resembling a rum ball. Shanklish is also sold in much smaller balls or in an unformed state.
In Egypt, shanklish is made by fermenting areesh cheese, usually called
mesh
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a comprehensive controlled vocabulary for the purpose of indexing journal articles and books in the life sciences. It serves as a thesaurus of index terms that facilitates searching. Created and updated by th ...
.
Consumption
Shanklish varies greatly in its texture and flavour. Fresh cheeses have a soft texture and mild flavour; those dried and aged for a longer period become progressively harder and can acquire an extremely pungent odour and flavour. To make spicier cheeses, spices such as
aniseed
Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia.
The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, ...
and chilli can be mixed in before the cheese is formed into balls. Spicy shanklish are often covered in chilli, especially in Syria, thus appear red.
Shanklish from the Syrian coastal plain around
Tartus
Tartus ( / ALA-LC: ''Ṭarṭūs''; known in the County of Tripoli as Tortosa and also transliterated from French language, French Tartous) is a major port city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. It is the second largest port city in Syria (af ...
and the adjoining northern Lebanese region of Akkar are considered particularly delectable; these tend to be hard, with a clean strong flavour and near-white colour.
Shanklish is generally eaten with finely-chopped
tomato
The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...
,
onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...
and
olive oil
Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil.
It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...
in a dish called shʿifurah, and often accompanied by araq. It is a common meze dish. Shanklish is also mashed up with eggs or in a
pita
Pita ( or ; ) or pitta (British English), also known as Arabic bread (, ), as Lebanese bread and as kmaj (from the Persian ''kumaj''), is a family of yeast- leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Levant ...
with
cucumber
The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.mint leaves and olive oil for breakfast.