Akkawi

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Akkawi, served with cherries

Akkawi ( Arabic جبنة عكاوي, DMG Ǧubnat ʿAkkāwī , Hebrew גבינה עכואית, French Fromage de Saint Jean d'Acre , also Akawi , Akawieh or Ackawi ) is a white semi-hard brine cheese made from cow's milk , goat's milk or sheep's milk . It originally comes from the present-day Israeli port city of Akkon , the name means "from Akkon". Akkawi is particularly popular in Lebanon and Syria, but is also produced in Jordan and Cyprus. In the Czech Republic there has been industrial production for the Arab market for decades.

properties

Akkawi is a white, semi-hard cheese made from mostly pasteurized cow's milk , goat's milk or sheep's milk , with no or only a few small holes in the dough. It has a fresh, salty taste, when made from cow's milk it has a slightly greasy mouthfeel. Blocks with a weight of 400 to 500 grams are common. For retail purposes, containers with 20 to 40 of these blocks are packed in containers with brine and stored in a cool place. At the point of sale, they are removed according to immediate needs and presented in the refrigerated sales counter.

Akkawi contains around 51 to 61% water, 15.75 to 22.5% protein, and 19.5 to 21.6% fat.

history

The production of the Akkawi has a long tradition in the Levant , namely in Israel , Palestine , Lebanon , Syria and Cyprus. It is still made in many households today, especially in Lebanon and Syria. The Lebanese civil war led to a severe shortage of milk. At that time, industrial production began in the Czech Republic , which to this day mainly supplies the Arab market.

Manufacturing

The Akkawi is traditionally made from cow's milk , goat's milk or sheep's milk . Mastic and Mahlab can also be added to the warmed milk with the rennet as a spice. After 30 to 45 minutes is the fracture cut into small cubes and pressed for two hours under increasing pressure in a cheese cloth. The cheese is then salted, after three to six hours of rest in brine, boiled for five to ten minutes, and finally stored in brine for up to a year at room temperature .

Depending on availability, Akkawi is industrially manufactured from cow's milk, sheep's milk or goat's milk. Milk powder can also be used in combination with fresh milk. The milk is pasteurized at 75 ° C and then cooled down to 35 ° C. After the addition of calcium chloride and rennet and a coagulation time of about an hour, the curd is wrapped in cheesecloths in portions of about 12 × 12 × 3 cm and pressed into several pieces with increasing pressure. Care is taken to ensure that the temperature during pressing remains below the melting point of the fat contained. Otherwise, the fat could run off with the whey or become trapped within the dough and cause a poor, greasy consistency. In summer, the desired temperature for pressing is around 24 ° C, in winter 26 ° C. Immediately after pressing, the cheese is placed in a ten percent brine that has been made with boiled water and in which it matures for three months.

Akkawi is industrially produced with different fat content, from the lean level with less than 10% to the full fat level with more than 40% fat in the dry matter . In industrial production, up to 30 percent of the table salt in the brine , which is considered harmful to health, can be replaced by potassium chloride without affecting the taste, texture or shelf life.

consumption

Kunafah , on top a gratinated mass of vermicelli or other vermicelli, the cheese forms the bottom layer
Halawet el Jibn

Akkawi is just as versatile as feta and, like this, is not suitable for gratinating , but it can be grilled . In Lebanese and Middle Eastern cuisine, it is an important ingredient for salads , filled pastries and desserts. For the preparation of desserts, the Akkawi is rinsed in clear water to soften the salty taste.

Akkaw as Nabulsi and halloumi often as a snack in a baguette or white bread served. Because of the salty taste, jam is occasionally served with it, or the sandwich is heated on a grill or between two hot metal plates until the cheese melts. Tomato slices or cucumber cubes are then spread over the melted cheese as a garnish and to soften the salty taste.

Along with Israeli Safed and Turkish Kashkawal , Akkawi is one of those cheeses that are often used as a topping for Manakish . Here, the finely diced cheese is pure or with Zatar applied mixed, it can also be a half with Akkawi and the others are occupied by Zatar. The meat filling of dishes such as Fatayer or Börek can be replaced by spinach and finely diced Akkawi as a vegetarian alternative. In Lebanon, flat cakes are topped with a mixture of finely chopped, desalinated Akkawi, finely chopped parsley and grated onions, rolled up and fried as cheese sticks in hot fat. The desserts Kunafah and Halawet el Jibn are made with Akkawi.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c R. I. Tannous: Miscellaneous white brined cheeses . In: RK Robinson, AY Tamime (Ed.): Feta and Related Cheeses . Ellis Horwood, New York et al. a. 1991, ISBN 0-7476-0077-5 , chap. 6 , p. 209-228 .
  2. ↑ a b c A. Adnan Hayaloglu: Cheese Varieties Ripened Under Brine . In: Paul LH McSweeney, Patrick F. Fox, Paul D. Cotter, David W. Everett (Eds.): Cheese. Chemistry, Physics & Microbiology. Fourth edition . Volume 2. Academic Press, London a. a. 2017, ISBN 978-0-12-417012-4 , chap. 39 , p. 997-1040 .
  3. ↑ a b c I. Toufeili and B. Özer: Brined Cheeses from the Middle East and Turkey . In: Adnan Tamime (Ed.): Brined Cheeses . Blackwell Publishing, Oxford et al. a. 2006, ISBN 978-1-4051-2460-7 , pp. 188-210 .
  4. ↑ a b Christelle Salameh, Sylvie Banon, Chadi Hosri, Joël Scher: An Overview of Recent Studies on Main Traditional Fermented Milks and White Cheeses in the Mediterranean Region . In: Food Reviews International . tape 32 , no. 3 , 2016, p. 256-279 , doi : 10.1080 / 87559129.2015.1075210 .
  5. ↑ a b Juliet Harbutt (Ed.): World Cheese Book . Dorling Kindersley, London a. a. 2009, ISBN 978-0-7566-5442-9 , pp. 264 .
  6. ↑ a b T. Huppertz et al .: Constituents and Properties of Milk from Different Species . In: Adnan Tamime (Ed.): Brined Cheeses . Blackwell Publishing, Oxford et al. a. 2006, ISBN 978-1-4051-2460-7 , pp. 1-42 .
  7. ↑ MM Ayyash, F. Sherkat, NP Shah: The effect of NaCl substitution with KCl on Akawi cheese: Chemical composition, proteolysis, angiotensin-converting enzyme-inhibitory activity, probiotic survival, texture profile, and sensory properties . In: Journal of Dairy Science . tape 95 , no. 9 , 2012, p. 4747-4759 , doi : 10.3168 / jds.2011-4940 .
  8. ↑ Rabih Kamleh, Ammar Olabi, Imad Toufeili, Hamza Daroub, Tarek Younis, Rola Ajib: The effect of partial substitution of NaCl with KCl on the physicochemical, microbiological and sensory properties of Akkawi cheese . In: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture . tape 95 , no. 9 , 2015, p. 1940–1948 , doi : 10.1002 / jsfa.6906 .
  9. ↑ a b Adnan Y. Tamime and RK Robinson: Utilization of Brined Cheeses in Other Food Preparations . In: Adnan Tamime (Ed.): Brined Cheeses . Blackwell Publishing, Oxford et al. a. 2006, ISBN 978-1-4051-2460-7 , pp. 302-315 .