Making Cheese

Further reading revealed that after making your own yogurt, it's a simple step to make your own cheese; a soft, fresh, middle-eastern variety called lebnah. With great excitement, I decided that this must be the soft, white cheese that we had eaten in Morocco on our honeymoon last year. Whenever locals described it, they called it "soft, white cheese." When I asked them specifically what kind of cheese it was, they said, "soft, white cheese." With additional prodding, they revealed it was made from cow's milk.

Soft, white cheese for sale in the medina.

It was really very simple to make. I dumped a jar of our homemade yogurt into a cheesecloth-lined strainer. Once a good amount of liquid had drained, I tied up the cheesecloth and rigged it up in the fridge.

Twenty-four hours later, more liquid had drained, and we were left with a savoury ball of what was undeniably soft, white cheese. (I read somewhere that I was supposed to add some salt. I forgot, and it was still yummy.)

Labneh! Aka, soft, white cheese.