[Sca-cooks] On the subject of cheeses, how about Turkish?

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Christiane:
>As long as folks are talking about cheeses, I'd like to make a 
>recommendation and to ask some questions of what to do with some 
>Turkish/Greek cheeses.
>
>The proprietors of the Turkish restaurant in my town also opened a 
>deli. I go there for rosewater, sour cucumber pickles, pickled green 
>tomatoes, olives, fresh breads, baklava, teas, and other things. 
>There is a deli case packed full of fascinating-looking cheeses. I 
>salivate looking at them. But I have no idea what to do with them, 
>what varieties are melting cheeses, what varieties are best eaten 
>straight ...
>
>But this place has given me a revelation about feta cheese. 
>Previously to me, feta cheese was that salty stuff from the 
>supermarket. I tried some Bulgarian feta from this place, and was 
>pleasantly surprised; it was not salty at all, had more of a 
>fresh-mozzarella-type flavor, although it was obviously a sheep's 
>milk cheese. Then I got brave again this past week, and tried 
>another feta.
>
>All I can say is, wow. Salty, yes, but smoky, with a tang like bleu 
>cheese or roquefort, and a creamier, less crumbly texture. I ate 
>some today with slices of hothouse tomatoes in a pita, and it was 
>out of this world. I'll get you guys the name of this type of feta, 
>and if you have a Turkish deli in your area, please go track it 
>down. It's phenomenal.
>
>But this brings me back to the question: what other cheeses should I 
>be looking for at my Turkish deli? What recipes can I use them in?

This is not my area of expertise, but I know kefalotiri (I think 
that's the name) is a firm, melting or grating cheese, somewhere in 
between a white Cheddar and Parmigiano or Pecorino-Romano. You can 
shave or slice it thin, melt it on toast or pita or lavosh or on 
crackers, or in sauces or omelettes, grate it on pasta, etc.

Stores that sell Bulgarian feta and kafalotiri will likely also sell 
that Armenian string cheese; similar to mozzarella, it comes in 
half-inch diameter strands looped into a sort of braid with nigella 
seeds (I think) mixed in at some point in the proceedings, and then 
there's that seasonally preserved goat-yogurt cheese called labneh or 
laban (which just basically means yogurt in several languages), which 
is thick, drained, goat's milk yogurt solid enough to form into 
1-inch balls, rolled in dried herbs (usually mint), and packed into a 
jar with olive oil. Very nearly _the_ perfect bread accompaniment...

HTH,

Adamantius