Grilled Halloum...The Squeaky Cheese



Halloum is a delicious cheese originally from Cyprus. It used to be available only in Cyprus, Greece, and the Eastern Mediterranean area, such as Lebanon, Syria but now it is available world wide. It is a cheese made of sheep's and goat's milk.  Now sometimes they include some cow's milk.  But the authentic Halloum is made from goat and sheep's milk. The beauty of this cheese is that it has a high melting point and can be used to fry or grill....

The Space In The Middle Is Where The Mint Used To Be Put
Photo Courtesy Of Wikipedia On Google
This One Was Bought In Athens A Few Days Ago.
In olden times, mint leaves were used to preserve it. So you would open a package and either find mint leaves on top of it or inside. It is shaped like a big wallet which opens up. The mint was put in the space between the two sides of the wallet.  A picture is included herewith courtesy of Wikipedia on Google where you can see the space where once mint leaves used to be included. I am also including the picture of a Halloum bought from a super market a few days ago. This had little bits of mint stuck all over it but I washed it to get rid of some the extra salt.

The reason I called it the squeaky cheese is because it sort of squeaks while chewing it when it is right out of its package.  It is rather salty but can be washed or soaked in fresh water to reduce the salinity.

I would like to share with you today an extremely quick recipe for grilled Halloum on toasted tortilla. You could call this a meze with a touch of Espanish (the tortilla).
Note: it tastes better with a tortilla than with pita bread.
You will need :
- Serves 4 as a meze or tapa.
-  1 pack of Haloum weighing 220 gr cut in slices using the mandolin.

-  Stove-top grill or a pan.  The stove-top grill is preferable because you can make the grill lines .
-  Some fresh or dried mint leaves.
-  Tortillas cut as per picture then cut right across the diameter.

Method:
-  Heat the stove-top grill to medium heat.
-  Place the Haloum slices on the stove-top grill.
-  Once you have placed all the slices, start checking on the first, second etc. If the grid lines have been made then overturn till you have overturned the whole bunch.
-  Pile everything on one side of the grill to keep warm, then start grilling the turtilla pieces (one or two minutes).
-  Once those are grilled as well, take a piece of tortilla, place a piece of mint which you have heated as well, then add a slice of the Halloum.
-  Continue until you have used up all the Halloum.
Serve while it is hot, soft and melty.
Enjoy this excellent Greek / Cypriot meze.
Stelio

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