A sharp fermented goat cheese layered with salt in a jar over months, also called serdaleh. It is a Baalbek and Bekaa mountain cheese, built up by adding fresh milk and salt in layers right through the grazing season.
It is a season-long ambient ferment of raw milk built up in layers, where the salt dose is judged by a herder’s practice against milk that arrives twice a day; there is no batch and no measurable endpoint.
What goes into it
- raw goat’s milk
- coarse salt
- a large clay or glass jar
How it is made
Fresh milk is poured into a jar and salted, and left to sour and separate. Each time the goats are milked more milk and more salt are added on top, layer after layer, through the whole season. The whey is drained off periodically through a hole in the base, and what remains ferments into a sharp, salty, crumbly paste by autumn.
How long it takes: the whole grazing season — three to six months of layering
How it is eaten
With bread, olive oil and tomato, or spread on manakish.
History
A Baalbek and Bekaa mountain cheese, also called serdaleh, made by adding fresh milk and salt in layers through the season.
Frequently asked questions
What is Ambaris?
Ambaris is a cheese & dairy from Lebanon: sharp fermented goat cheese layered with salt in a jar over months. A Baalbek and Bekaa mountain cheese, also called serdaleh, made by adding fresh milk and salt in layers through the season.
How is Ambaris made?
Fresh milk is poured into a jar and salted, and left to sour and separate. Each time the goats are milked more milk and more salt are added on top, layer after layer, through the whole season. The whey is drained off periodically through a hole in the base, and what remains ferments into a sharp, salty, crumbly paste by autumn. It takes the whole grazing season — three to six months of layering.
Can I make Ambaris at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. It is a season-long ambient ferment of raw milk built up in layers, where the salt dose is judged by a herder’s practice against milk that arrives twice a day; there is no batch and no measurable endpoint.
What goes into Ambaris?
Raw goat’s milk, coarse salt, a large clay or glass jar.
How is Ambaris eaten?
With bread, olive oil and tomato, or spread on manakish.
