Shanklish

[ibnomran]

Hello Everyone

If you are familiar with Shanklish.

Does anyone know eher I can find the best Shanklish in Chicago? or in Indiana?

Any information is greatly appreciated

[Behemoth]

Hello Everyone

If you are familiar with Shanklish.

Does anyone know eher I can find the best Shanklish in Chicago? or in Indiana?

Any information is greatly appreciated

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I have been able to buy Beiruti brand in a jar at a place in Urbana, so a relatively large middle eastern store in Chicago should carry it. It says "pickled shanklish" but it is just packed in olive oil.

As far as best, or fresh, I can't really help. This stuff isn't bad, though it's not the homemade stuff, either.

[FoodMan]

Hello Everyone

If you are familiar with Shanklish.

Does anyone know eher I can find the best Shanklish in Chicago? or in Indiana?

Any information is greatly appreciated

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Unfortunatly, I've never tried good shanklish in the US. Click here to see a previous post about it though. For the record, I have not attempted to make it again, yet.

Elie

[zeitoun]

Shanklish as it is made in Lebanon is indeed hard to come by in the US or even in places like France where there is a sizable lebanese community (and hundreds of lebanese restaurants). Interestingly, it seems to me that when we talk about shanklish outside of lebanon we immediately think of the cheese salad served with tomatoes, onions and parsley that is quite common on lebanese restaurant menus. From what i've seen such salads are mostly prepared with feta cheese though.

Edited June 9, 2005 by zeitoun (log)

[Behemoth]

I've gotten very good shanklish in Montreal. Well, actually my dad buys it when he's up there and brings it down for me. There is a big Lebanese population in Montreal from what I understand. Still, I would love to perfect a homemade version.

[zeitoun]

I've gotten very good shanklish in Montreal. Well, actually my dad buys it when he's up there and brings it down for me. There is a big Lebanese population in Montreal from what I understand. Still, I would love to perfect a homemade version.

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Not to deviate too much from this thread but Montreal is indeed great for stocking up on Middle Eastern goods. The market called Adonis (on 9590 l'Acadie and probably where your shanklish came from) is just incredible, nothing beats it i think in North America. Think Target with only middle eastern grocery goods...

[ravum]

Have started a maiden attempt at making shanklish using this recipe.

I started with about 1 lt of milk (after burning another 1.5.It ,thats what was left . Definitely dont follow the instruction of heating the pan till water sizzles ).Made the yogurt and refrigerated it for 4 hours.

Added 1.25 tsp of kosher salt dissolved in 1/4 c water. When the water was stirred in,the X completely dissapeared.The whey separated well before it boiled, but I let it come to a boil before removing it from the heat.

Drained and placed it between two thick cotton towels and placed a 28oz can on top. It was ready to roll in 2 hours.

Added a little cayenne and kneaded it well till smooth and glossy.Formed 3 golf sized balls which are now drying out between paper towels.

[FoodMan]

Have started a maiden attempt at making shanklish using this recipe.

I started with about 1 lt of milk (after burning another 1.5.It ,thats what  was left . Definitely dont follow the instruction of heating the pan till water sizzles ).Made the yogurt and refrigerated it for 4 hours.

Added 1.25 tsp of kosher salt dissolved in 1/4 c water. When the water was stirred in,the X completely dissapeared.The whey separated well before it boiled, but I let it come to a boil before removing it from the heat.

Drained and placed it between two thick cotton towels and placed a 28oz can on top. It was ready to roll in 2 hours.

Added a little cayenne and kneaded it well till smooth and glossy.Formed 3 golf sized balls which are now drying out between paper towels.

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Definitly keep us updated! I am very interested to see how it turns out. Did you taste the mixture before forming the balls? It should be on the salty side or the cheese might spoil.

Elie

[ravum]

Couldnt resist tasting - creamy and delish.

It tasted properly salted ( a little on the higher side, like a cheddar ) , not predominantly salty as feta. Should I add more?

[FoodMan]

Couldnt resist tasting - creamy and delish.

It tasted properly salted ( a little on the higher side, like a cheddar )  , not predominantly salty as feta. Should I add more?

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It shopuld not be as salty as a feta but on the salty side. I think you are ok. Anyways we'll wait and see huh? .

[ravum]

Update - Let the rounds dry for a day and a half , put them in a loosely covered jar.Smells moldy ( but not spoilt ) and there are a couple of green spots of mold on each of them.

Edited August 5, 2005 by ravum (log)

[FoodMan]

Update - Let the rounds dry for a day and a half , put them in a loosely covered jar.Smells moldy ( but not spoilt ) and there are a couple of green spots of mold on each of them.

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You are on the right track my friend. any pictures???

Elie

[ravum]

No camera and so no pics .This is one place where the pics wouldve been very useful.

We are in the process of moving out of the country and all our stuff has been shipped.

Can't cook much now, so thought i'd try something which I'd been meaning to try but never did.

Edited to add: Now smells blue cheesy and has white hair sprouting on it

Edited August 5, 2005 by ravum (log)

[ravum]

The balls are fully covered with fuzzy mold...in fact most of the jar is.It does smell better now than it did initially.

After scraping the mold off,is it rinse and dry or no rinsing at all? Any suggestions?

[Behemoth]

The balls are fully covered with fuzzy mold...in fact most of the jar is.It does smell better now than it did initially.

Boy if that sentence doesn't encourage the multitudes to try this dish I don't know what will.

[ravum]

good one, behemoth

Edited August 8, 2005 by ravum (log)

[FoodMan]

The balls are fully covered with fuzzy mold...in fact most of the jar is.It does smell better now than it did initially.

After scraping the mold off,is it rinse and dry or no rinsing at all? Any suggestions?

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rinse and dry, then roll in zaatar

[ravum]

Finally,the tasting - too blue cheesy for me and not enough salt.Will up it to 2 tsp the next time.It doesnt taste salty at all now.

The mold had to be scraped off with a knife but there were still patches of green on the shanklish even after washing it well.Is that okay? Just been conditioned to think that green mold isn't safe for eating..

[Behemoth]

Finally,the tasting - too blue cheesy for me and not enough salt.Will up it to 2 tsp the next time.It doesnt taste salty at all now.

The mold had to be scraped off with a knife but there were still patches of green on the shanklish even after washing it well.Is that okay? Just been conditioned to think that green mold isn't safe for eating..

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You'll probably live.

I meant to say this earlier, but one of my favorite things is to take some of the curds in the earlier stage (Arisha) and eat them drizzled with honey and rolled up in flat mountain bread.

As for the cheese, I find it harsh on it's own, but it is very nice mixed with chopped tomatoes, onion and good olive oil.

[helou]

Finally,the tasting - too blue cheesy for me and not enough salt.Will up it to 2 tsp the next time.It doesnt taste salty at all now.

The mold had to be scraped off with a knife but there were still patches of green on the shanklish even after washing it well.Is that okay? Just been conditioned to think that green mold isn't safe for eating..

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i don't think you should worry too much about the bits of mold. in syria, they roll the cleaned balls of shanklish in za'atar. try using lemon juice when boiling the yoghurt. will post the method tomorrow.

helou

[ravum]

While waiting for helou to post her recipe for my second try, polished off the shanklish in a salad. Behemoth, it was too strong for me on its own, your suggestion was very handy.

[FoodMan]

Just in time for this thread I recieved a package from my family in Lebanon and among the few goodies -in a large cleaned Nido podered milk can- are those:

"green" shanklish. Made by my grandmother and are called "green" meaning young, underripe not moldy . These will be stored in a jar until ripened, then washed, dried and rubbed with zaatar.

In the meantime they are still great crumbled in salads or -my favorite- scrambled with eggs and eaten with pita.

I will try and keep this thread updated with their progress.

Elie

[helou]

While waiting for helou to post her recipe for my second try, polished off the shanklish in  a salad. Behemoth, it was too strong for me on its own, your suggestion was very handy.

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ok, here is the stuff about shanklish. sorry it has taken me so long but my computer's death really messed up my working life for a while. shanklish is made from a type of curd cheese called qarish and here is what i wrote about both qarish and shanklish in my lebanese cookbook (published by st martin's press):

another fresh cheese is a type of curd cheese (qarish) which is made with yoghurt and and lemon juice. the yoghurt is boiled with a little lemon juice until it separates, after which it is taken off the heat and strained. the curdled yoghurt is then left to cool before being gathered in a cheese cloth and hung over a sink or bowl to drain overnight. it is then transferred into a covered container and put in the refrigerator where it will keep for a couple of days unsalted or longer when it is salted. some people prepare it without lemon juice.

from this curd cheese we make a round fermented cheesed called shanklish. the curd cheese is seasoned with salt and a little cayenne pepper and rolled into balls, each the size of a small orange. the balls are spread on a cotton cloth laid over a straw mat and left to dry for five or six days after which they are put in airtight glass jars and left to ferment for up to a week. once the cheese is mouldy all over, the mould is rinsed away under cold water and the balls of cheese are rolled in plain dried thyme. they are then packed in clean glass jars and are ready to eat within a week; the longer they are kept, the softer and stronger in taste they become.

sorry again about the delay but hope this helps. also i saw the thread about samkeh harrah and i thought i'd tell you about my mother's recipe for it in the same book, using both pine nuts and walnuts, cilantro, both fresh and dried, masses of garlic, onion, tomato, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, and black and cayenne pepper. most of the stuffing is used inside the fish but some of it is baked separately and used to stuff small tomatoes for garnish. hope this helps too. i'm only just now starting to be back to normal again and will start participating in the discussions as of next week.

[Mary4488]

Hi all,

I started making shanklish yesterday, and am waiting for the cheese to drain sufficiently so I can make the balls and store it in a crock.

Does anyone make it? If so, I am wondering how long it should stay in a crock before it is molded sufficiently. I will let it dry out completely before I store it, but I cannot remember how long the last phase takes.

Thanks!

Mary