Halloumi vs Tzfatit
Halloumi
Facts
- Milk
- Mixed milk
- Texture
- Semi-hard
- Type
- Brined
- Rind
- No rind
- Country
- Cyprus
- Status
- PDO
Halloumi is the grilling cheese of Cyprus, and a protected name. The curd is heated, so a slab stays in one piece on a hot pan instead of melting into a puddle.
Tzfatit
Facts
- Milk
- Sheep
- Texture
- Semi-hard
- Type
- Brined
- Rind
- No rind
- Country
- Israel
- Place
- Upper Galilee
Tzfatit is a semi-hard salty cheese from the Upper Galilee in Israel. Traditional makers use sheep's milk, and they form the cheese in baskets that leave ring marks on the surface. The paste is white, elastic, and moist rather than dry and crumbly. Salt is part of the identity, but the taste stays milder than that of many sharp brined cheeses. It is eaten young more often than it is kept until the paste turns very hard.