Syrian cheese

There are numerous different kinds of Syrian cheese. Some of the most common are:

• Ackawi , a white cheese with complex flavor. Primarily used as a table cheese. Also spelled Akawi and Akawieh. From the Palestinian town of Akko.
• Baladi , soft-white, smooth, creamy cheese has a mild flavor. The cheese tastes delicious spread on fresh bread or crackers. It is eaten for breakfast or snacks.
• Charkassiye, a soft, fresh cheese
• Jibneh Arabieh (Arabic for: Arab Cheese), is a simple cheese found all over the Middle East. It is particularly popular in Egypt and Arab countries of the Persian Gulf. The cheese has an open texture and a mild taste. The heritage of the product started with Bedouins, using goat or sheep milk, however current practice is to use cow's milk to make the cheese. Jibneh Arabieh is used for cooking, or simply as a table cheese.
• Jibne Baida, Arabic for white cheese, is a white hard cheese with a pronounced salty taste, often boiled before eating
• Kenafa , is an unsalted, very fresh, soft cheese that melts easily and freely. It is used to make the popular "cheesecake", like dessert that is sometimes called Kenafa by people in the Middle East mainly Palestine. It can also be used as a base for other sweet cheese desserts. It is sold frozen because there is no salt in it and is available in both retail and bulk packages.
• Majdoule, a salty white cheese made up of thick strands of cheese braided together (hence the name)
• Shelal, a salty white cheese made up of strands of cheese woven together
• Surke, sorke or shanklish, a mature cheese made with spices and generally presented as balls of cheese covered in za'tar orchile powder; most often eaten as a starter dish with tomato, oil and sometimes onion
• Turkomani, a soft porous cheese with a delicate flavour

Other milk products

• Kashta, (Kishta) is a heavy cream that is very popular in the Middle East. Traditionally, it is made by skimming the thickest part of the cream from whey. The product is used both as an ingredient in cooking and is mixed with honey to be eaten as an incredibly rich dessert. Rich Cow brand Kashta is a fresh, rich-tasting, cream product texture of which is smooth and thick. It has a sixty-day refrigerated shelf life.