Labna and Whey
May 27, 2011 § 3 Comments
Traditionally eaten in Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Jordan labna is a wonderful and easy way to make your own soft white cheese. Labna is creamy and delicious and works equally well with savory or sweet things. For example, spread it on toast with honey or alternatively garlic, olive oil and tomato. Eat it with stewed fruit or next to curries and so on.
To make Labna, you need to separate the whey from yoghurt. You are then left with a beautiful soft cheese and whey.
Whey is incredibly nutritious. Sally Fallon notes in her book, Nourishing Traditions, that whey has been used to cure a variety of human ailments since the time of the ancient Greeks. It is full of minerals and one teaspoon taken in a glass of water is said to help digestion. It is also said to help keep your joints, muscles and ligaments young and movable.
So to separate your whey from your yoghurt, you will need to place your yoghurt in a muslin cloth.
And suspend over a bowl either in a sieve or hanging from a wooden spoon and leave in a cool place for 24 hours.
You should then be left with a good layer of whey in the bottom of your bowl and lovely soft white cheese. Store your whey in a glass jar in the fridge.
To store your labna you can roll it into balls and cover with olive oil (obviously not if you want to use it for something sweet).
the invisible cookbook 
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