Geymar

Ingredients

Cream

• 2 litreswhole buffalo milk, or
• 1 litredouble cream with 500 ml whole milk

To serve

• date syrup or honey
• kahi — hot flaky pastry
• sweet black tea

Directions

1. Pour the milk into the widest shallow pan you have. The cream sets at the surface, so surface area is the entire variable.
2. Heat very gently to just below a simmer, around 85°C (185°F), and hold it there for an hour and a half to two hours. The surface should barely tremble.
3. Do not stir at any point. Stirring breaks the forming skin, and the whole method is about letting that skin thicken undisturbed into a solid layer.
4. Turn off the heat and leave the pan completely still somewhere cool for eight to twelve hours. It goes on thickening as it cools.
5. Refrigerate a further four hours until the top layer is firm and wrinkled.
6. Run a knife round the edge and lift the sheet off whole with a wide spatula, or roll it as you lift it.
7. Serve cold or at room temperature with date syrup and hot kahi for breakfast, with sweet tea.
8. Use the milk left underneath for cooking or in tea — it is thin but not wasted.

Technique

• Buffalo milk is the real thing here. Its fat globules are larger and it gives a far thicker, richer geymar than cow’s milk can.
• No stirring, low heat, long and still. Every failure is one of those three.
• It keeps three days in the fridge and is at its best on the first morning.

Substitutions

• Double cream with whole milk, which is the practical supermarket version.
• Unhomogenised cow’s milk, which gives noticeably more cream than homogenised.

Variations

• Persian sarshir and Turkish kaymak are the same preparation.
• Served with qaimar and honey inside hot samoon bread.

History

Clotted cream skimmed from water buffalo milk, sold in the morning and eaten with honey and kahi.

Frequently asked questions

What is Geymar?

Geymar is a cheese & dairy from Iraq: thick buffalo-milk clotted cream eaten with honey and bread. Clotted cream skimmed from water buffalo milk, sold in the morning and eaten with honey and kahi.

How long does Geymar take to make?

Geymar takes 10 min plus 12 hours setting of preparation and 2 hours of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 400 g. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Geymar?

Yes, within limits. Double cream with whole milk, which is the practical supermarket version. Unhomogenised cow’s milk, which gives noticeably more cream than homogenised.

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

Pour the milk into the widest shallow pan you have. The cream sets at the surface, so surface area is the entire variable.