CHEESE OF THE WEEK: ARMENIAN STRING CHEESE IS FRESH CHANGE FROM MOZZARELLA
Evansville Courier & Press, INDIANA
Feb 21 2013
Armenian string cheese is an exotic change from fresh mozzarella if
you are looking for a mild, milky cheese with stretch.
Like mozzarella, Armenian string cheese is a filata cheese. This means
after the curds are formed, they are drained, then heated, salted and
pulled, doubled and pulled again and again, somewhat like taffy, to
form the elastic texture and fine separable strings we associate with
string cheeses. Then they are doubled up in pretty knots and stored in
brine or packaged in Cryovac. The cheese is sold fresh, with no aging.
According to Cheese.com, in Armenia it can be made with sheep, goat or
cows’ milk. Locally available cheeses are made with whole cows’ milk.
Pretty little black nigella seeds sprinkled throughout the cheese
supply texture and a sharp, oregano-like flavor.
The cheese is most attractive served with the strings pulled apart
into a pile of fluffy threads. If stored in brine, it can be quite
salty, as are most Middle-Eastern cheeses. You may rinse the untangled
cheese briefly in cold water to remove some salt if you desire. The
locally available cheeses are in Cryovac and less salty.
Nigella is the seed of Nigella sativa, a less decorative version of
the popular ornamental love-in-a-mist, commonly used in Indian and
Middle Eastern cooking. The teardrop-shaped black seeds have a nutty,
earthy, peppery flavor and are a key ingredient in some Indian spice
mixes. They add both flavor and a bit of crunch to the milky string
cheese.
The Olivia brand cheese pictured can be found at Fresh Market. It is
made in the U.S., in a traditional style containing black nigella
seeds. Other brands of string cheese with nigella are sold at Aihua
International Market.
Armenian string cheese can be used just like fresh mozzarella, and is
very suited for eating cold as a snack, on a sandwich, with flat bread
and relish, or in a salad. It may also be melted in a pita or atop
flatbread, or even used as a pizza cheese.
The accompanying recipe is adapted from Paula Wolfort’s Cooking of the
Eastern Mediterranean, a comprehensive tome of authentic recipes from
Northern Greece to Syria.
Broiled Peppers stuffed with String Cheese
Source: Adapted from Paula Wolfort’s Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean
Serves 6- 8 as an appetizer
INGREDIENTS
8-6 large Italian green frying peppers or mild Anaheim-type chilies
– salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons minced onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh green jalapeño, or less to taste
12 ounces Armenian string cheese, shredded
1 egg, well beaten
11/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
– pinch dried oregano or mint
– pinch freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
1 Use a small knife to make a 1-inch incision halfway around the stem
of the frying peppers. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and
cook the peppers for about 5 minutes, or until tender. Set aside to
cool.
2 In a small skillet, use 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and saute the
onion and chile until soft, about 2 minutes. Set aside.
3 When the peppers are cool, remove the seeds. Rinse if you like,
although a few remaining seeds are not a problem.
4 In a bowl, mix the string cheese, egg, lemon juice, oregano or mint,
and pepper. Carefully stuff each pepper with the filling. Wipe any
drips off the surface of the pepper. Brush with the remaining olive
oil, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
5 Preheat the broiler and broil the peppers as far as possible from
the heat until spotted with black on the top, about 6 minutes. Turn
and repeat on the second side.