🧀 Arabic white cheese (jibneh baida)

Name: Arabic white cheese (jibneh baida)
Total time: 1440 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Levant · Middle East
Ingredients: 2 litres full-fat milk; 1/4 tsp liquid rennet diluted in 2 tbsp cool water; About 1 tbsp salt for the curd; For the brine: 1 litre water and 80 g salt

Origin: Levant · Middle East

130kcal

per serving · 50 g

260kcal

per 100 g

9 gProtein18 g / 100 g

10 gFat20 g / 100 g

1 gCarbs2 g / 100 g

Jibneh baida, literally “white cheese”, is a firm, salty cheese made from milk, rennet and salt and kept in brine. It slices and cubes cleanly, has a mild milky taste under the saltiness and a slightly springy bite. It is a fixture of Arab breakfast trays across the Levant and the Gulf, served with tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and mint.

Diets

✓

No pork

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Keto-friendly2 g carbs per 100 g

✓

High protein18 g protein per 100 g — 28% of the calories

Vegetarian — check the brothbecause of: rennet

Not veganbecause of: milk

Contains dairybecause of: milk

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Milk

What it is made of

milksaltrennet

Recipe

6 servings1440 min

Ingredients

2 litres full-fat milk
1/4 tsp liquid rennet diluted in 2 tbsp cool water
About 1 tbsp salt for the curd
For the brine: 1 litre water and 80 g salt

Method

Warm the milk to about 35 °C, stir in the diluted rennet, cover and leave undisturbed for 45–60 minutes until set.
Cut the curd into 2 cm cubes, stir gently for 5 minutes, then ladle it into a cloth-lined colander or mould.
Press under a light weight for 3–4 hours, turning once, until firm.
Cut into blocks, rub with salt and chill overnight.
Boil and cool the brine, then store the cheese in it in the fridge; soak slices in water for an hour before eating if too salty.

How to make it lighter

It is dense in calories: 30–40 g is a sensible breakfast portion, cut into small cubes.
Fill the rest of the plate with tomato, cucumber, mint and olives rather than more cheese.
Soak the cheese in water before serving to cut the salt.

History

White brined cheeses have been made around the eastern Mediterranean for centuries, because brine kept fresh cheese edible in a hot climate. Today jibneh baida is made in homes and dairies from Lebanon and Syria to Egypt and the Gulf, under many local names.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →