Armenian string cheese can be an exotic change from fresh mozzarella. San Angelo Standard-Times
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YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 27, ARMENPRESS: Armenian “string” cheese is an exotic change from fresh mozzarella if you are looking for a mild, milky cheese with stretch. As reports Armenpress, San Angelo Standard-Times daily has presented Armenian “string” cheese to foreign gourmands.
“Like mozzarella, Armenian string cheese is a filata cheese. This means after the curds are formed, they are drained, then heated, salted and pulled, doubled and pulled again and again, somewhat like taffy, to form the elastic texture and fine separable strings we associate with string cheeses. Then they are doubled up in pretty knots and stored in brine or packaged in Cryovac. The cheese is sold fresh, with no aging.
According to Cheese.com, in Armenia it can be made with sheep, goat or cows’ milk. Locally available cheeses are made with whole cows’ milk. Pretty little black nigella seeds sprinkled throughout the cheese supply texture and a sharp, oregano-like flavor.
The cheese is most attractive served with the strings pulled apart into a pile of fluffy threads. If stored in brine, it can be quite salty, as are most Middle-Eastern cheeses. You may rinse the untangled cheese briefly in cold water to remove some salt if you desire. The locally available cheeses are in Cryovac and less salty.
Nigella is the seed of Nigella sativa, a less decorative version of the popular ornamental love-in-a-mist, commonly used in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking. The teardrop-shaped black seeds have a nutty, earthy, peppery flavor and are a key ingredient in some Indian spice mixes. They add both flavor and a bit of crunch to the milky string cheese.
Armenian string cheese can be used just like fresh mozzarella, and is very suited for eating cold as a snack, on a sandwich, with flat bread and relish, or in a salad. It may also be melted in a pita or atop flatbread, or even used as a pizza cheese,” the daily writes.