Features of Anari cheese, manufacturing method, nutritional value and chemical composition. Useful and harmful properties, use in recipes.
Anari is a soft cheese, a traditional variety for Greek cuisine, which is obtained as a by-product in the production of other cheeses: Halloumi, Kefalotiri or Halotiri. As a raw material, goat's milk whey is used more often, and sometimes goat's and sheep's whey mixture is used. The color is white, the taste is curd, but without sourness, the aroma is creamy. Aging is not required. The shape of the head is flat cylinders of small diameter with rounded edges. It is used by itself or as an ingredient for national dishes.
How is Anari cheese made?
The production of this product can be started immediately after the whey has been drained in the manufacture of other grades. You can delay the start of the process, but no more than 5-7 hours, so that the liquid does not start to sour. In order to preserve the beneficial substances in the snow-white pulp, the feedstock is enriched with whole milk and the heating is limited to 73-75 ° C. But there is also an express method - boiling and catching the cheese grains as they float to the surface.
How to make Anari cheese:
- Whey (from goat or sheep milk, or a mixture of raw materials) is heated in a clean kettle (in a clean one, and not in the one that remained during the preparation of the main cheese) to 65 ° C.
- Enrichment is carried out by pouring in 5-10% by volume of whole milk. Stir.
- Raise the temperature to 73 ° C and wait for the curd to float to the surface using a stick-shaped stirrer.
- They let it stand a little in order to separate the curd layer as much as possible, and throw it back onto cheesecloth.
- After the liquid has separated, give the curd mass the desired shape, tamping it down with your hands. The more serum you managed to squeeze, the denser the head will turn out and the better it will keep its shape.
You can taste it after drying at this stage, but in most cases the cheese is salted. The proportions for the solution are 4 tsp. sea salt per 1 liter of boiled water. First, the salt is dissolved in boiling water, then the liquid is cooled and the head is lowered into it.
To get a delicate taste, 1-2 hours are allotted for salting, a more spicy one - the process time is increased. Store in the refrigerator, wrapped in foil or parchment for baking.
Consumers are offered 3 types of Anari:
- sweetish, tender, almost unsalted, crumbling at the slightest pressure, shelf life - less than a day;
- salted, denser, can be refrigerated for 48 hours;
- hard, salty.
To prepare the last subspecies, the curd mass is carefully squeezed out, salted after the first pressing and the process is repeated, leaving it under pressure until the whey is completely separated.
It is interesting to see how Anari cheese is made in cheese dairies. The process practically does not differ from home - it is not automated. The whey is poured into a separate tank, heated, constantly working with a stirrer, pasteurized milk is poured in, and then the rising curd flakes are first scooped out with a colander, and then with a net with gauze. Squeeze the whey by hand.
For the production of soft unsalted varieties, the cheese mass is immediately tamped into molds - cylinders made of food-grade plastic with many holes through which the whey flows. And in order to make dense salty varieties, curd layers are placed under a press. The molds are dipped in brine and dried by blowing in warm air, and only then they are packed in food grade cellophane.
Paprika or dry herbs are often injected into the heads - especially of hard varieties made in cheese factories. But the housewives who make this product prefer other flavors that increase the shelf life. A cake is formed from the not yet compressed, but already squeezed curd mass, sprinkled with salt and mint, folded in half, rolled again in the mixture and laid out in molds, squeezing well. They put it in the refrigerator, you can eat in a day. The shelf life of such a product in frozen form is 1 year. Peppermint and salt serve as preservatives.
Anari cheese recipes
Most often, the local population uses the pulp for breakfast, kneading with a fork and adding honey, yogurt and jam. The curd dough mixed on it has a completely extraordinary lightness and a pleasant delicate taste. Dry cheese is added to salads, sprinkled on pasta, giving a new flavor to familiar dishes.
Anari Cheese Recipes:
- Syrniki … It is better to start cooking in the evening. Soft fresh fermented milk product, 250 g, knead with a fork, drive 1 egg into it, 2 tbsp. l. semolina (semolina made from special varieties of wheat with a high carotene content), 1 tbsp. l. cane sugar and a little salt. The dough is divided into identical balls, wrapped in plastic wrap and left overnight on the refrigerator shelf. The semolina should swell. In the morning, take out the blanks from the refrigerator, let them stand for 2-3 hours at room temperature, roll them into flat cakes and fry on both sides until golden brown.
- Talauri cheese sauce … A large cucumber is peeled, grated on a fine grater and squeezed to remove excess liquid, sprinkled with salt and discarded in a colander. The juice that comes out after salting should drain. 3 cloves of garlic are pounded, mixed with a little olive oil until a paste-like texture. Fill the blender bowl with cucumber puree, garlic paste, 50 g of chopped Anari and pour in 1 cup of unsweetened yogurt and 0.5 cups of olive oil, add salt and mint to taste. Beat everything until smooth. The sauce is served with hot fish or meat dishes.
- Warm vegetable salad … The bowl of a blender or combine is filled with lemon grass - 1 stalk, garlic - 4 prongs, 2 chili pods, after removing the partitions and seeds. 2 young zucchini are cut into thin slices, 1 sweet pepper - green, fragrant, fresh champignons - 150 g, green peas in pods - 150 g. Dressing is prepared separately: combine 1 tbsp. l. apple juice and soy sauce, zest of 1 lime, previously grated. Sunflower oil is poured into a deep frying pan, the vegetables are heated and laid out - first, the zucchini, frying on both sides for 1 minute, then green pepper, mix, and after a minute the mushrooms are added. When the mushrooms are almost ready, it is the turn of the peas in the pods. Just before turning off, pour in the dressing, sprinkle everything with finely chopped cilantro and grated salted Anari. The best side dish is boiled rice.
See also Tilsiter cheese recipes.
Interesting facts about Anari cheese
The social system of Greece in the 10th century was such that the peasants had to pay with food - they paid tithes with agricultural products and those that they made on their own. Halloumi went to the nobles, the raw material of which was whole milk, and the poor were content with Anari. Then there were no recipes for making them - they removed the residual cheese grain and eaten it, including for feeding small children. At the same time, the positive qualities of the cheese were noticed - high nutritional value and low calorie content. And the product came to be seen as a separate one.
They became interested in consumer characteristics by the end of the twentieth century, assessing the harm and benefits of Anari cheese. And already in 2005, the international symposium - World Cheese Awards, which is held annually in the UK - awarded the variety with a silver medal.
The most delicious cheese is made from the milk of Shami goats - these animals fully provide the local population with meat, wool and dairy products. But you can collect milk from all types of livestock, including cows.
Watch the video about Anari cheese:
If you are wondering what to bring your friends as a gift from Greece, you can buy a package of salted Anari. This is not only a souvenir, but also an opportunity to feel like a "little" Cypriot.
