Monday, January 08, 2007

Cheese: Island Pure

For this next cheese, we take a visit to South Australia and in particular to one it's most well known islands, Kangaroo Island. Here we'll find Island Pure, started in 1992, it was South Australia's first sheep diary.

haloumi

Cheese Maker: Island Pure
Cheese Type: Haloumi
Location: Gum Creek Road, Cygnet River
Open: Daily 1-5pm

Haloumi is a traditional sheeps' milk cheese of Cyprus. During its manufacture it's actually cooked in its own whey. This results in a cheese that won't melt when heated.

It's most usually served grilled or fried and when you bite into it, it squeaks against your teeth.

haloumi

There's a bit of liquid in the package to keep the cheese moist so you'll need dry it off on paper towels before using it. The little green specks are just mint fragments.

sliced

Typically, you'll cut the cheese evenly into ½ to 1cm thick slices and if you were pan frying, dust the cheese lightly with a little flour to help get a wonderful crispy crust. If you were grilling, rub a little olive oil on the slices before placing them on the grill.

slices

I found it to be mildly salted - haloumi can have a tendency to be a touch on the salty side, I found this to be quite pleasant and good enough to eat as is.

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6 comments

  1. Hi Haalo,
    Is this the same cheese that you can crumb and fry?
    Greek friends of mine make it as an entree with salad. It is quite salty but the salad counteracts it somewhat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Karen - it could be Haloumi or Kefalotiri, a good counter to the saltiness is just fresh lemon, squeezed over the grilled cheese. The Island Pure is noticeably less salty than then most.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Haalo,
    Yes, you could be right.

    Thanks for the helpful tip on the lemon.:):)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi,

    How does Haloumi compare to the Indian cheese paneer?

    Thanks
    adrianna

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Adrianna -Generally Haloumi is more flavoured and can be saltier than Paneer though they have similar characteristics when heat is applied. Hope that helps.

    ReplyDelete

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