How to Preserve Baladi (Village) Cheese

Ingredients

• Baladi (village) goat cheese
• Salt
• 1 liter water
• 4 tablespoons salt
• Mahleb and mastic
• Nigella seeds (black seed)
• Method for preserving baladi cheese from a friend and cook on the "Shou Tabkhin Today" site:
• خلود عبد الناصر
• Click Khulood’s name to visit her page on our site
• To learn Khulood's method for cheese pastries, click Cheese Pastries with a Tender Dough

Method

1. Salt the cheese and leave it for three or four days in salt until all its water drains out.
2. When it dries, wash it well and cut it as desired.
3. Put water in a pot... you may need more than one liter of water depending on the amount of cheese... each liter of water needs 4 tablespoons of salt.
4. Prepare small cloth sacks securely closed containing mahleb and mastic and place them in the water...
5. Let the water boil well.
6. While the water is boiling.. put the cheese in and stir it in the water.. foam will appear on the surface, remove it all and let the cheese boil until it becomes very soft.
7. Remove the cheese from the water, spread it out and sprinkle nigella seeds on it while it is hot.
8. Let it cool completely and drain for 4 hours.
9. Arrange it in a sterilized jar that is completely dry.
10. Immerse the cheese in the water in which it was boiled after that water has cooled completely.
11. Close the jar tightly and place it in a cool place out of direct sunlight.
12. When opening the jar, use a dry fork or tongs and not your hand to extract the cheese pieces so as not to contaminate the jar and cause the cheese to spoil.. and be sure to reseal it tightly and put it in the fridge after opening.
13. Kholoud Abdel Nasser
14. To learn Kholoud's cheese pastry method, click on "Cheese Pastries with a Flaky Dough"