Anari (, ) is a Fresh cheese mild whey cheese 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 in the United Kingdom.
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,
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 () 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 Spanos and the forty dragons.
[ Έπκιασεν λλίον σταχτόν τζιαι μιαν αναρήν μεσόγλωρην τζι΄ελάμνισεν κατα τζεί πούτουν οι δράτζιοι...Αρπάσσει τζι’ο Σπανός την αναρήν, σφίγγει την, ετρέχαν τα ζουμιά που τη φούχταν του(So he grabbed hold of some ashes and a half-dry piece of soft white cheese (anari) and headed off in the direction of the dragons' lair...And Spanos grabs the half-dry piece of soft cheese he brought with him, and with only one squeeze its juices began flowing through his finger).]
See also
