Maker Β· Cheese
Al Shahbaa
A grilling cheese that turns golden brown and crispy and keeps its shape. Made in Leusden with a recipe from Aleppo and milk from their own herd.
The story
Who's behind it
Al Shahbaa is the work of two men who found each other in Leusden. Nidal Aswad fled Aleppo to the Netherlands in 2016 and brought his family's cheese craft with him; his uncles run a cheese factory and dairy shops in Syria. Ramon van Roomen and his wife Sophie run a dairy farm at De Boom on the Asschatterweg. Ramon supplies the milk, Nidal makes cheese from it to the recipe from home. The name Al Shahbaa refers to Aleppo.
At De Boom, about 115 cows decide for themselves when to go inside and be milked. Right now roughly half the milk goes to the cheese dairy. Production is COKZ-certified.
Why this cheese
It keeps its shape. On the grill it turns golden brown and crispy outside and stays soft and springy inside. Halloumi does the same. This one is softer and more aromatic.
It's made fresh daily. The whole cheese is made within one day. Nidal sets the milk, adds mahlab (a spice from the pit of the sour cherry), presses the curds, gives them a short salt bath and heats them. Because it's so fresh, you taste the milk itself.
Dutch milk in a Syrian recipe. The whole milk from Leusden is richer than the milk this cheese was made with back home. The cheese is lightly salted, full and milky, with spicy notes of black cumin and mahlab.
In your kitchen
This cheese gives you a warm vegetarian dish that holds up on the plate. It takes high heat, so you can grill, fry or deep-fry it. Use it as a meat substitute on the grill, in a salad or on a mezze board.
On the menu you can name the origin: a cheese maker from Aleppo and milk from a herd a few kilometres away. You see this cheese more and more often on tables in Amsterdam, Utrecht and Amersfoort.
Chefβs tip
Pat the cheese dry and place it on a hot, lightly oiled griddle. Leave it in place until it has a golden crust, then flip. It turns crispy outside, springy inside, and the moisture stays in the cheese.
How to use it
Ideas for your menu
From the grill or plancha
In thick slices over high heat, brief cooking. Golden crust outside, soft inside. Works as a warm vegetarian main.
In a fresh salad
Grilled chunks on tomato, cucumber and mint. The salt of the cheese against the acidity of a lemon dressing.
Pan-fried with honey
Sear briefly, then finish with honey and black cumin. The spice notes of mahlab come through.
On a mezze board
Alongside labneh, olives and warm flatbread. Roll a slice in thin bread, as is customary in Syrian cuisine.
For your menu
βGrilled Syrian grilling cheese from Al Shahbaa (Leusden), with honey and black cuminβ
Products from Al Shahbaa
What we carry from this maker
Prices and availability are in the portal. Become a customer or log in to order.
Taste it in your own kitchen
Book a no-obligation tasting with Niels and taste it for yourself.