Anari ( gr, αναρή, tr, nor) is a fresh mild

whey cheese Whey cheese is a dairy product made of whey, the by-product of cheesemaking. After the production of most cheeses, about 50% of milk solids remain in the whey, including most of the lactose and lactalbumin. The production of whey cheese allows ch ...

produced in Cyprus. Although much less known than other Cypriot cheeses (e.g. halloumi), it gained popularity following publicity. One of the main industrial producers on the island won a silver medal award for anari in the 2005

World Cheese Awards The Guild of Fine Food (GFF) is a British family-owned industry journal publisher that covers gourmet food news. It was founded by Bob Farrand in 1992. All five directors are members of the Farrand family. Bob Farrand is the chairman, his son ...

in the UK. It has since become available in UK national supermarkets.

Production

The whey used is usually a by-product in the production process of other harder cheeses, commonly that of halloumi or kefalotyri cheese. The whey is gradually heated to in a large cooking bowl. A small amount of goat or sheep milk (5–10%) can be added at this temperature to improve the end product quality. The temperature is then increased to boiling point, whilst mixing. At small crumbly curds of anari start forming and are skimmed off the surface using a slotted spoon or a colander. They are placed in a container that allows further drainage and then cut into cubes of roughly 10 cm sides. Excluding the drainage, the above process takes roughly one hour.

Variants

In its simple form, anari has a chalk-white appearance with a very soft consistency, similar in many ways to the likes of

mizithra cheese Mizithra or myzithra ( ) is a Greek whey cheese or mixed milk-whey cheese from sheep or goats, or both. Barron, Rosemary (1991). ''Flavors of Greece.'' William Morrow, It is sold both as a fresh cheese, similar to Italian ''ricotta'', and as a s ...

, cottage cheese and ricotta. Salt is often added and the product dried through gentle heating (in bygone times it was just left in the sun) and further maturation to create an extremely hard variant.

Culinary uses

*If not intended for hardening, anari must be consumed soon after its production as it is very perishable. Most locals will consume it for breakfast mixed with syrups (usually carob based) or honey. *Bourekia is a traditional Cypriot dish of pastries packed with various anari-based fillings (savoury and sweet). *Cheesecakes are similar to bourekia but with a filo pastry cover instead. *Dry anari is too hard to cut and is hence invariably grated and used to garnish pasta dishes or thicken sauces. It is also used to make Flaounes (Φλαούνες) which is a traditional pastry with dry anari prepared in Orthodox Easter.

Nutritional facts

100 g of commercially produced fresh anari has a typical composition of:

Other

Anari is also known in Cyprus as ''analati anari'' ( gr, ανάλατη αναρή) meaning "unsalted anari", since the regular anari is salted. Also anari has a prominent place in Cypriot culture as it is mentioned in the traditional

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

''Spanos and the forty dragons''.

References