Labneh
The beliefLabneh is taken for a separate kind of cheese, made with some special culture.
The truthIt is strained yoghurt, and the only variable is time: six hours gives a thick yoghurt, twenty-four a cheese.
How to make it
What you need
- 1 kg full-fat yoghurt
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- Muslin or a clean fine cloth
How the engine read this list (2 lines)
| 1000 g | Full-fat yoghurt | yoghurt |
| 6 g | Salt | salt |
An empty weight means that line could not be turned into grams — either the amount is open ("to taste") or the ingredient has no record here. Neither enters the sum as zero; they do not enter it at all.
Stir the salt through the yoghurt. It draws the water out faster and protects the surface while it strains.
Line a sieve with the muslin, tip the yoghurt in, gather the corners and tie them. Set a bowl underneath: whey will collect.
Leave it in the fridge: six hours for a thick yoghurt, twelve for labneh, twenty-four for something you can slice. Stop wherever you like.
Keep the whey. It carries protein and minerals — use it in place of water in bread dough, in soup, or in a smoothie.
To keep it longer, roll walnut-sized balls, dry them in the fridge for another night, then pack them into a jar and cover with olive oil.
The others that work the same way
Yoghurt
The truthBesides milk you need one spoon of yoghurt. The rest is holding a temperature and waiting.
Butter
The truthIt is whipped cream taken too far. Around the fifteenth minute it separates on its own and you have both butter and buttermilk.
Kefir
The truthDrop the grains into milk, leave them a day at room temperature and strain. The grains come back every time.