Hard Cypriot Halloumi

Sam333

Sam333

Senior Member
Joined
29 Aug 2017
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Londinium
Hello, first time posting.

Does anyone know where to get really rock hard haloumi, the type to make Turkish cheese bread with.

Can only ever find the soft rubbery one. Looked online and at turkish food stores?
 
Hi @Sam333 and welcome to the forum. I must say I haven't come across hard halloumi - I always thought it was described as semi hard cheese which has a high melting point. So it can be fried whole etc.

Can you say a bit more about the Turkish cheese bread?
 
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Hello MG, its basically the classic thick oven baked turkish bread with cheese and black olives. The haloloumi my mum used to make after being baked had a reall hard Al Dente bite to it.

The normal softer version is fine for baking, it just doesnt have that chalky al dente texture to it, that I like and tastes better too.

She also used to grate it like parm over food

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The Late Night Gourmet said:
I hadn't heard of it until now. I didn't realize it was such a sensation in the UK:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24159029
Click to expand...

I think halloumi is very popular here - all supermarkets sell it. I don't use it very often. I'm not sure why. I suppose its just a bit too easy - you grill it in slices, it semi melts but holds its shape and you can then add it to salads or you put it on skewers and grill. You don't have to do anything to it really - it just tastes good when grilled.

But rock hard halloumi I've never come across and if Google isn't yielding results then I'm wondering if it really does exist.
 
morning glory said:
I think halloumi is very popular here - all supermarkets sell it. I don't use it very often. I'm not sure why. I suppose its just a bit too easy - you grill it in slices, it semi melts but holds its shape and you can then add it to salads or you put it on skewers and grill. You don't have to do anything to it really - it just tastes good when grilled.

But rock hard halloumi I've never come across and if Google isn't yielding results then I'm wondering if it really does exist.
Click to expand...

Mmmm, scratches forehead. Could I be wrong in thinking it is Halloumi, possibly. I am however 100% positive it was from Cyprus (not sure if from the Turkish or Greek side)

A Cyrpiot lady used to come back from there and give my mum tons of the stuff. She used to say in Turkish, heres the Hellim, which is Turkish for Halloumi.

I've been looking for this cheese for years, the search continues..........
 
Sam333 said:
Mmmm, scratches forehead. Could I be wrong in thinking it is Halloumi, possibly. I am however 100% positive it was from Cyprus (not sure if from the Turkish or Greek side)
Click to expand...
It could still be the same cheese, but just processed as a hard cheese. I haven't made cheese (yet!), but I have studied the process. Hard cheeses (like cheddar) require a cheese press, so it's possible that wherever your mum got her cheese made it that way. One of the footnotes to the Halloumi wikipedia page gives some clue to that:

Robinson, R. K. – Tamime, A. Y. (1991). Feta and Related Cheeses. Woodhead Publishing. p. 144. ISBN 1-85573-278-5. Halloumi is a semi-hard to hard, unripened cheese that, traditionally, is made from either sheep's milk or goat's milk or a mixture of the two. Although the cheese has its origins in Cyprus, it is widely popular throughout the Middle East, and hence many countries have now become involved with its manufacture.
​
As for where to get it, I have no idea, short of making it yourself.
 
@Sam333

Welcome to CookingBites.

I shall check my trip notes on Port Antalya, Istanbul and Port of Call, Kusadasi (1994), however, I shall be back home on 31st or 1st .. Note: Historically, it is a Cyprus designated Cheese from both raw sheep and raw goat milk

There is a Turkish Food Centre, in Dalston, London .. I would check with them ..

Good luck ..
 
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Halloumi is by definition as semi-hard cheese (which softens up inside on cooking). I make a similarly textured paneer, which does not have rennet in it, which I substitute for halloumi, but that is not hard either. Are you sure you don't mean kefalotyri ? This is similar to halloumi but is harder and does not quite have the tang.
 
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