List of Middle Eastern cheeses

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.

Cyprus

Name	Image	Region	Description
Anari	File:Anari Limassol.jpg		A fresh whey cheese, a by-product of halloumi making.
Halloumi	File:Halloumi.jpg	Cyprus; also the Levant	A semi-hard brined cheese of sheep's and goat's milk that can be grilled or fried without melting.^[2]
Kefalotyri	File:Kefalotyri.jpg		A hard, salty cheese shared with Greek tradition.

Egypt

Name	Image	Region	Description
Areesh			A fresh curd cheese made from laban rayeb.
Domiati	File:Domiati cheese.jpg	Damietta	A soft white cheese of cow's or buffalo's milk, salted before curdling; the most widely eaten cheese in Egypt.^[2]
Fried cheese (gibna maqliya)			White cheese fried in oil or butter.
Mish	File:Mesh.jpg		Cheese fermented in a spiced brine, often for months or years.
Rumi	File:Flickr - Tour d'Afrique - ArabicCheese.jpg		A hard yellow cheese, also called gibna rumi.
Testouri			A fresh cheese shaped by hand into balls.

Iran

Name	Image	Region	Description
Lighvan	File:Lighvan cheese 1.jpg	Liqvan, East Azerbaijan	A brined sheep's-milk cheese.
Motal	File:Tsirani (restaurant) Yerevan - 0.JPG	Iranian–Caucasian borderlands	A cheese aged in animal skins.

Iraq

Name	Image	Region	Description
Aushari		Kurdistan Region (Sulaymaniyah, Erbil)	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]

Israel

Name	Image	Region	Description
Gvina levana			A soft white cheese.
Kashkaval	File:Kaschkawal Kashkaval кашкавал Balkankäse Sofia IMG 7649.JPG	Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans	A pressed yellow stretch-curd cheese.
Sirene	File:White Brine cheese cubes.jpg	Balkans	A brined white cheese of Balkan origin, common in Israel.
Tzfatit	File:Safed cheese.jpg	Safed	A brined semi-hard cheese first made in Safed in the 19th century.

Levant

Name	Image	Region	Description
Akkawi	File:Akawi Cheese.jpg	Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan	A white brined cheese named after Acre (Akka).^[2]
Baladi	File:جبن2.jpg	Lebanon, Syria, Palestine	A soft, fresh white cheese.
Basket cheese	File:Sepet peyniri.jpg		A fresh cheese drained and shaped in baskets.
Braided cheese	File:Geflochtener Käse(Wien Naschmarkt).JPG	Levant, Armenia	A plaited string cheese.
Darfiyeh		Northern Lebanon	A raw goat's-milk cheese matured in a goatskin (darf); listed in the Slow Food Ark of Taste.^[4]
Jibneh Arabieh	File:جبن1.jpg	Levant, Persian Gulf	A general term for white table cheese in the Arab world.
Nabulsi	File:جبنة نابلسية.jpg	Nablus, Palestine	A boiled white brined cheese flavoured with mahleb and mastic; used in knafeh.^[2]
Shanklish	File:Shanklish.jpg	Syria, Lebanon	Fermented, dried, and spiced cheese formed into balls and often coated in za'atar.
Tresse	File:أنواع مختلفة من الأجبان العربية في محل تجاري في لوس أنجليس.jpg	Syria	A braided string cheese.

Turkey

Name	Image	Region	Description
Abkhazian cheese		Black Sea region	A fresh curd cheese introduced by Abkhazian immigrants; also called Abhaz peyniri.
Beyaz peynir	File:White cheese from Turkey.jpg		A white brined cheese, the most widely consumed cheese in Turkey.
Chechil	File:Չեչիլ պանիր 3.jpg	Eastern Anatolia, Caucasus	An elastic string cheese.
Civil	File:Queso çeçil turco.jpg	Erzurum	A stringy cheese made from skimmed cow's milk.
Çökelek			A dry curd cheese made from buttermilk.
Çömlek	File:Çömlek peyniri or Turkish pot cheese.jpg	Central Anatolia	A cheese ripened in earthenware pots.
Dolaz		Western Taurus	A whey cheese.
Ezine peyniri	File:Ezine peyniri.jpg	Çanakkale	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]
Golot	File:Kolot cheese from Trabzon,Turkey.jpg	Eastern Black Sea region	A fresh cheese.
Kars gravyer	File:Kars gruyere.jpg	Kars	A hard cheese modelled on Gruyère.
Kasseri (kaşar)	File:Kasseri Leveti AB.jpg	Turkey, Greece	A pressed yellow stretch-curd cheese of sheep's and goat's milk; Turkish kaşar and Greek kasseri share an Ottoman-era tradition.
Künefe peyniri	File:Turkish künefe and tea.jpg	Hatay	A fresh melting cheese used in künefe.
Lavaş	File:Penêrfiroshî Amed 2010.JPG	Eastern Anatolia	A soft cheese.
Mihaliç		Bursa region	A hard sheep's-milk cheese.
Saganaki	File:Saganaki.jpg	Turkey, Greece	A frying cheese; the name refers to the two-handled frying pan.
Teleme		Anatolia, Balkans	A soft brined cheese.
Tomas		Northeastern Anatolia	A fresh cheese.
Tulum	File:Turkish cheese. Istanbul, Turkey, Southeastern Europe.jpg		A crumbly cheese ripened in a goatskin bag (tulum).
Van herbed cheese		Van	A brined cheese mixed with wild herbs.

Yemen

Name	Image	Region	Description
Yemeni cheese		Yemen	Fresh and smoked white cheeses of Yemen.

Related dairy products

The following traditional Middle Eastern dairy products are not cheeses in the strict sense but occupy a similar place in the cuisine:

Kashk – dried fermented whey or yogurt, used in soups and stews
Labneh – strained yogurt eaten like fresh cheese, often rolled into balls and preserved in oil
Qishta – clotted cream
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]

References

↑ Davidson, Alan, ed. (2014). "Middle East". The Oxford Companion to Food (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-967733-7.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 Donnelly, Catherine, ed. (2016). The Oxford Companion to Cheese. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-933088-1. Search this book on
↑ Altemimi, Ammar B. (2022). "Traditional fermented foods and beverages in Iraq and their potential for large-scale commercialization". Journal of Ethnic Foods. 9. doi:10.1186/s42779-022-00133-8. PMC 9116715 Check |pmc= value (help). Unknown parameter |article-number= ignored (help)
↑ Serhan, Mireille (2009). "Bacterial diversity of Darfiyeh, a Lebanese artisanal raw goat's milk cheese". Food Microbiology. Retrieved 2026-07-03.
↑ ""Ezine Peyniri" cheese of Çanakkale wins EU recognition". European External Action Service. 26 December 2023. Retrieved 2026-07-03.
↑ "Sirdeleh". Ark of Taste. Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. Retrieved 2026-07-03.

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[oxford-1] Davidson, Alan, ed. (2014). "Middle East". The Oxford Companion to Food (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-967733-7.

[ocheese-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 Donnelly, Catherine, ed. (2016). The Oxford Companion to Cheese. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-933088-1. Search this book on

[iraqdairy-3] Altemimi, Ammar B. (2022). "Traditional fermented foods and beverages in Iraq and their potential for large-scale commercialization". Journal of Ethnic Foods. 9. doi:10.1186/s42779-022-00133-8. PMC 9116715 Check |pmc= value (help). Unknown parameter |article-number= ignored (help)

[darfiyeh-4] Serhan, Mireille (2009). "Bacterial diversity of Darfiyeh, a Lebanese artisanal raw goat's milk cheese". Food Microbiology. Retrieved 2026-07-03.

[ezine-5] ""Ezine Peyniri" cheese of Çanakkale wins EU recognition". European External Action Service. 26 December 2023. Retrieved 2026-07-03.

[ambarees-6] "Sirdeleh". Ark of Taste. Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. Retrieved 2026-07-03.

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