This is a list of cheeses of the Middle East. Cheesemaking in the region dates to antiquity, and many Middle Eastern cheeses are white brined cheeses made from cow's, sheep's, or goat's milk, eaten fresh or preserved in brine.[1][2] Several, such as halloumi and akkawi, are produced and consumed across many countries of the region rather than in a single national tradition; such cheeses are listed once, under the area with which they are most associated.[2] The list covers cheeses of Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan), Turkey, and the Arabian Peninsula. Cheeses shared with neighbouring culinary traditions outside the region, such as Greek and Balkan cheeses, are included where they are also established in Middle Eastern production.
A semi-hard sheep's- and goat's-milk cheese of the Kurdish highlands, flavoured with wild thyme (jaje), packed in sheep-stomach bags, and matured in mountain caves for six to eight months.[3]
A white cheese of sheep's, goat's, and cow's milk matured in brine for at least eight months; the first Turkish cheese registered as an EU PDO (2023).[5]
Laban rayeb – naturally soured milk, the base of areesh cheese
Ambarees (sirdeleh) – raw goat's milk fermented with salt in terracotta jars in the Beqaa Valley and Chouf, Lebanon; listed in the Slow Food Ark of Taste[6]
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