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Gebna areesh
Soft fresh cheese
Gebna areesh: soft, mild Delta fresh cheese made from soured skimmed milk
Farm families in the Delta have long made areesh from the skimmed, soured milk left after churning butter, draining the curds in reed mats until they are soft and crumbly. The cheese is pale, light and mildly tangy, with almost no fat, and is eaten at breakfast and supper with tomatoes, cucumbers, spring onions, herbs and a thread of olive oil, or crumbled into salads and pies. This home version starts with pasteurised skimmed milk and cultured buttermilk; the milk then needs 18 to 24 hours to sour at room temperature before the short cooking and draining. No rennet is used: the curd is set by souring alone, so it suits vegetarians. Don't boil the soured milk hard: rapid heat makes tough, rubbery curds instead of soft, delicate ones. Chef's tip: heat the soured milk very gently; boiling it makes the curd tough and squeaky.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 8 ¼ cups pasteurised skimmed milk
- 1 cup cultured buttermilkwith live cultures, pasteurised
- 1 tsp salt
To serve
- 2 tomatoes (optional)sliced
- 2 tbsp dill or parsley (optional)chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil (optional)
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What you'll need
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Warm 8 ¼ cups pasteurised skimmed milk in a large, very clean pan to about 86°F, just lukewarm on your wrist.
5 minStep 2: Stir in 1 cup cultured buttermilk, cover with a lid and leave at warm room temperature (22–82°F) for 18–24 hours, until the milk has set like soft yoghurt and smells pleasantly sour. If it smells off or shows coloured spots, throw it away.
Step 3: Set the pan over the lowest heat and warm it slowly, without stirring, until the curd pulls away from the sides and the whey turns yellow-green, about 60–158°F.
35 minStep 4: Line a colander with a double layer of damp muslin and set it over a bowl. Ladle in the curds gently.
Step 5: Tie the cloth into a bundle and hang it, or leave it in the colander, in the fridge until it is firm enough to hold its shape but still moist, 3–4 hours. Draining in the fridge keeps it fresh.
Step 6: Unwrap, mix in 1 tsp salt and pack into a covered box. Keep in the fridge and eat within 4 days, with 2 tomatoes, 2 tbsp dill or parsley and 1 tbsp olive oil if you like.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 65 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 4 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does gebna areesh take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of pasteurised skimmed milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
- What can I use instead of cultured buttermilk?
- Milk with lemon juice or white vinegar: 1 tbsp per 240ml (1 cup) milk, left for 5 minutes.
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