Shanklish

A cheese made from yoghurt. Skimmed yoghurt is heated and strained, salted heavily, rolled into balls by hand and coated in red pepper or thyme. The balls then dry in the sun and are kept in sealed jars; the longer they sit, the harder they get and the sharper the smell and taste. Fresh, it is soft and mild. Old, it hits the nose like a blue cheese.

Whose work it is

Coastal work. The country around Tartus, and the Akkar region of northern Lebanon that continues it, are named for the best shanklish: hard there, clearly salty, close to white in colour. It is also made in the Latakia countryside and around Aleppo. In Syria the spicy kind is wrapped in red pepper, so you will see red balls on the counter too.

What it belongs to

Mouneh — the winter store. It is made in summer and eaten through the year, so it is not tied to one meal. It can turn up in bread with cucumber and mint at breakfast, or crushed on a mezze plate in the evening.

How it is eaten

The ball is crushed on the plate with a fork and covered in olive oil; finely chopped tomato and onion go in, sometimes cucumber and pepper. Served that way it is called shifurah. Hot bread and tea alongside.

Where a traveller finds it

Eat it in a restaurant if the mezze list names it. The real place to meet it is the dairy counter in the market. There the balls sit stacked in the open, under their coat of thyme. The hard kind survives a journey and travels in a suitcase.