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GRILLED OR FRIED HALOUMI CHEESE - A CHEESE FROM THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS
Haloumi is a cheese made from goats and sheeps milk. It has a high melting point, so it is perfect for frying or grilling. Cheeses like Haloumi are prevalent throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
Cheese around the Mediterranean and the Middle East is often the entrče for many lunches and suppers. A light lunch would consist of cheese and fresh fruit. A little heavier meal would add bread to the menu or maybe a hearty soup. As a child, growing up during the depression with my parents and immigrant grandparents we ate like they did in the "Old Country". My family were Armenians living in Eastern Turkey and emigrated to the U.S.A.. They normally ate cheese, mostly feta, for many meals with fresh figs, watermelon, peaches or grapes and Armenian cracker bread. Until my father passed on at the age of 91, I could hear him ask for Hatz(bread), Baneer (cheese) and Tzmeroog (watermelon) for many a lunch or dinner.
INGREDIENTS: Serves 4
• 12 slices of haloumi cheese 1 block of cheese, about 8 - 10 ounces
• 12 1 inch by 1 inch cubes of watermelon (seedless is best)
• Romaine lettuce, shredded
• Mayonnaise
• 3 Tbls Balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp honey
• 4 Pita Pocket breads, each cut into thirds or 1 round Armenian Lahvosh** (cracker bread)
• Black Pepper fresh ground
• 2 Tbls olive oil
• Kosher or sea salt to taste
DIRECTIONS:
1. Cut cheese into 12 even slices
2. Mix balsamic vinegar and honey together and drizzle over 12 cubes of watermelon, set aside.
3. Cut Pita pocket bread into 12 - 3 inch triangles OR Break Armenian Lahvosh** into 3 - 4 inch
pieces and dampen with water (under the tap and set aside to become pliable).
4. In a skillet with the olive oil, fry the Haloumi cheese until golden brown on each side. OR Grill the
cheese enough to get good grill marks on both sides using a gas or charcoal barbecue. Sprinkle
with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Plate the 3 slices of cheese, 3 cubes of watermelon, 3 pieces of bread and two or three dollops of
Mayonnaise on the shredded Romaine.
6. Add 3 cubes of watermelon to each plate and serve.
7. Use the bread to make a fold-over sandwich with the cheese, mayo and Romaine, and follow with a
bite of watermelon.
COOKS NOTE*
Lahvosh is difficult to find if you don't live in an area that does not have many people with Middle Eastern roots.
There is a recipe for Lahvosh on this site, or you might be able to find a cracker called Ak-Mak in your local supermarket.