19 May 2012
QARTABA, Lebanon: Goats are said to scavenge in the trash for their meals, munching on tin cans and old shoes. But the reputation is unfounded, according to Geryes Souaid. “Goats are really clean,” insists Geryes, who owns a farm in the mountains above Jbeil.
“They won’t step foot on wet ground and ‘goats eat only the tender head of the plant,’” he adds, repeating an old proverb.
He should know. Geryes and his wife Aida have been making traditional baladi goat cheese, yogurt (laban) and labneh for some two decades, selling the dairy products – along with produce and honey – at the Abu Khalil market in Tripoli and Souk el-Tayeb in Beirut.
“We’ve been doing this since the 1990s but before that, growing up, we had cows, goats and chickens,” he says.
At their farm, three dozen goats look on expectantly, waiting for grass. The goats are surprisingly handsome and diverse: brown, white, black and gray, some with spots or patches. Their pupils, of course, are rectangular and the males have two long wattles hanging from their neck, a mark of their breed.
“The male goats are Damascus goats while the female goats are local,” Geryes explains. “The Damascus goats produce two or three kids and produce more milk. The local goats are hardier, accustomed to conditions here – that’s why we breed the two.”
The goats are milked twice a day and for those accustomed to buying milk from a supermarket, watching the process is a reminder of its actual origin. After a few goats, a 10-liter-water jug is full of frothy, white milk.
From the farm, it’s back to the kitchen. The first step to making baladi goat cheese is pouring the milk through cheese cloth to catch any impurities. The milk is then brought to a boil, at which point goat yogurt is added. After it has returned to a boil, the bacteria in the yogurt make the milk curdle.
“We use very simple tools,” Aida says, pointing to a colander, a bowl and a metal ladle.
With her daughter perched on her hip, she ladles the curds into the colander, where the liquid is drained. Around 30 minutes later, the cheese is cool and ready to be cut to order.
“We do it the day before [the market] so that it’s fresh,” says Aida. The texture is light and the flavor is mild and a little addictive. They don’t salt the cheese and this allows it to be used in pretty much everything from desserts (see recipe) to savory dishes.
From the 10-liter container of milk, about two kilos of goat cheese is made. It’s sold for LL25,000 a kilo.
“The cheese can be kept refrigerated for up to a month in an airtight container,” says Aida.
The simple process belies all the hard work that Geryes and Aida have put into it. The Souaid farm is one of very few in the country that has been certified organic for both its produce and dairy products. Though they never used pesticides, that wasn’t enough.
“Customers need to know that the products are organic and for that, we needed to get certified,” Aida says.
“The land must be clean of chemicals, otherwise you can’t do it,” she continues, adding that it was helpful that their farm is somewhat isolated from neighboring ones, whose pesticides and chemical fertilizers could potentially spill over.
Their farm has now been certified organic for four years. They use manure from their livestock, which also includes sheep and cows, as a natural fertilizer for their produce.
Aida also began using an all-natural way of making the goat cheese. Instead of artificial rennet, she uses yogurt to make the milk curdle.
“The goat cheese is so healthy that pregnant women can eat it,” she says.
The baladi goat cheese is just one part of the Souaid’s philosophy of self-sufficiency, which is driven by the needs of everyday life.
“It’s not just cheese that we make. This is how we were raised: We don’t buy vegetables or meat or chickens,” says Geryes. “When we buy food at the store, it’s strange.”
Goat cheese-lovers kanafeh
Ingredients
- ½ kilo unsalted ‘baladi’ goat cheese
- 1 kilo unsalted akkawi
- 1 kilo semolina
- 800 grams butter
- ¼ cup rose water
- ¼ cup orange blossom water
- Syrup to taste
Method
For the crust, mix together butter and semolina in a large bowl, add rose and orange blossom water.
Grease round pan and make an even layer of dough.
Combine goat cheese and akkawi.
Heat the cheese over low flame until it begins to melt, then spread onto crust.
Bake in oven until the edges turn brown.
Carefully turn pan upside down onto a larger pan. Place over low flame and drizzle with syrup to taste.
Serve hot. Sahtein!
From Lina at the Wadi al-Taym cooperative
