Ackawi

Ingredients

Cheese

• 6 litreswhole cow’s milk, or half sheep’s milk
• ¼ tspcalcium chloride in 2 tbsp water, if using shop milk
• ½ tspliquid rennet in 50 ml cool water
• 1 tbspnigella seed or mahlab, optional

Brine

• 1.5 litreswater
• 120 gcoarse non-iodised salt — an 8% brine
• 2 tbspof the whey

To use

• soaked and drained, in knafeh or sfiha
• or sliced with bread and olives

Directions

1. Warm the milk to 33°C (91°F) and stir in the calcium chloride if using pasteurised shop milk.
2. Stir in the diluted rennet with a few slow strokes, stop the milk moving, and leave undisturbed for 45 minutes until it gives a clean break.
3. Cut the curd into 1.5 cm cubes, rest 10 minutes, then stir gently for 20 minutes at 33°C (91°F).
4. Drain off the whey, keeping a little for the brine, and pack the curd into a muslin-lined mould with the nigella seed if using.
5. Press under a 4 kg weight for 12 hours, turning once. Ackawi is a pressed cheese and should come out firm and close-textured rather than crumbly.
6. Dissolve the salt in the water, stir in the reserved whey and cool it completely, then submerge the pressed cheese in it.
7. Brine for 24 hours for a mild cheese, or up to a week for a saltier keeping version. Whey in the brine stops calcium leaching out and leaving a slimy rind.
8. Before using it in pastry, soak the cheese in several changes of cold water for a few hours and taste it — the desalting is essential, because knafeh made with unsoaked ackawi is inedibly salty.

Technique

• Always soak and taste before baking with it. This is the step every Levantine cook takes as read and every newcomer forgets.
• Whey in the brine, always. It is a small detail with a very visible effect on the rind.
• Longer in the brine gives a saltier keeping cheese, which then needs a longer soak. The two are linked.

Substitutions

• Vegetarian microbial rennet, which works well.
• Sheep’s milk for part of the cow’s, which is richer and more traditional.
• Nabulsi, its close relative, which is boiled in brine and keeps far longer.

Variations

• Soaked, shredded and layered into knafeh with semolina and syrup.
• Sliced and fried, or grilled in a sandwich with za’atar.

History

Named after Acre on the Palestinian coast; the standard sandwich and sweet-pastry cheese of the Levant.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ackawi?

Ackawi is a cheese & dairy from Lebanon: mild brined white cheese, soaked to desalt then melted into pastries. Named after Acre on the Palestinian coast; the standard sandwich and sweet-pastry cheese of the Levant.

How long does Ackawi take to make?

Ackawi takes 45 min plus 12 hours pressing and 24 hours brining of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 700 g. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Ackawi?

Yes, within limits. Vegetarian microbial rennet, which works well. Sheep’s milk for part of the cow’s, which is richer and more traditional. Nabulsi, its close relative, which is boiled in brine and keeps far longer.

What is the most important thing to get right in Ackawi?

Press under a 4 kg weight for 12 hours, turning once. Ackawi is a pressed cheese and should come out firm and close-textured rather than crumbly.