Shanklish Balls

Overview:

Shanklish is commonly served at Lebanese restaurants as part of the mezze spread, smashed, and mixed with diced tomatoes, onions, and parsley.

Full of lively sharp flavors, and once you make it you will find yourself craving it over and over.

Composition: This shanklish is made with labneh (a Middle Eastern food made by removing most of the liquid from yogurt

(= a slightly sour, thick liquid made from milk with bacteria added to it) to make a type of soft cheese:

The Lebanese version of the dish is usually made with labneh.) and shanklish spices.

Aging shanklish in the Middle East was originally a way to make it last longer, but still with all the modern cheese-making development and the availability of cheese varieties year-round.  To make spicier cheeses, spices such as aniseed and chili can be mixed in before the cheese is formed into balls.

Spicy shanklish are often covered in chili. Shanklish tastes dry and salty and pungent.

It is served as a mezze with fresh veggies in Lebanon, crumbled in the middle of the plate and surrounded with chopped onions, diced tomatoes, and fresh herbs, with a basket of pita bread on the side.

The process that Shanklish making goes through in general:

1. Pour the yogurt into a large pot. Set it on medium heat and let it cook. In the meantime, place the spices in a bowl and mix them with a wire whisk.

2. As soon as the yogurt starts forming curds, set aside and pour into a calico bag or a large bowl over which you set a sieve lined with several layers of paper towels or cheesecloth.

Let the yogurt drain for a few hours. When firmed-up, transfer it to a bowl and mix in half the spice mixture.

3. Form into baseball-sized balls and let it dry out outside on a hot day or in the fridge, set on paper towels, changing the towels every time they get all soaked. This could take several days.

4. When the cheese balls are firm and rather dry, coat them with the spice mixture on the outside. Keep in the fridge covered and serve each ball crumbled-up in a salad or with crackers or pita.