Halloumi, the cheese that won't melt

If one flavour sums up Cyprus for me, it’s grilled halloumi, golden outside and firm within. Behind that cheese sits a designation of origin with very specific rules, and knowing them helps you choose well. I base this on the official PDO document. The rest of the island’s cooking is in Cypriot food.

A PDO with two names

The European Commission registered the cheese as a protected designation of origin through Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/591, in April 2021. The registered name has two forms, Halloumi and Hellim, Greek and Turkish, which can be used together or on their own. The production area covers all six districts of the island, from Nicosia and Limassol to Paphos, Larnaca, Famagusta and Kyrenia.

The milk

The single document published with the application in 2015 sets out the recipe. The milk is sheep’s or goat’s, or a blend of the two, and cow’s milk may be added, but never in a greater proportion than the sheep’s and goat’s milk. It must be Cypriot full-fat milk, pasteurised or heated above 65 °C, with no milk powder or additives. It’s curdled with rennet that isn’t from pigs, salted and finished with Cypriot mint, fresh or dried. Where milks are mixed, the label lists them from most to least.

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Why it doesn’t melt

The step that makes it unique is cooking the curd in its own whey at over 90 °C for at least half an hour. That’s why it doesn’t run or spread under heat and can be fried or grilled. It’s then folded into a rectangle or a half-moon, with the mint leaves placed between the layers to give it its aroma. Each piece weighs 150 to 350 grams.

Fresh or matured

There are two types. Fresh halloumi is semi-hard and elastic, white to pale yellow, smelling of milk and mint with a salty edge. Matured halloumi spends at least 40 days in salted whey and comes out harder, very salty and slightly bitter. The table above gives the moisture, fat and salt limits for each.

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A cheese with a past

According to the same document, the oldest known written reference dates from 1554, as «calumi», in a codex on the history of Cyprus held at the Correr Museum in Venice. Archimandrite Kyprianos mentions it in 1788 too, and Cypriot surnames such as Halloumas and Halloumis come from it. It’s also a cheese shared by Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike.

How I’d have it

Grilled or griddled, which is what its making prepares it for, and cold, sliced, to compare. One thing for British readers, though. gov.uk currently bars personal imports of cheese and other dairy from the EU into Great Britain because of animal disease outbreaks, so enjoy it on the island rather than packing it. Among my souvenirs from Cyprus I list others that carry official recognition. If you’re after a table to enjoy it at, look at where to eat in Cyprus, or buy it at the market, as I explain in cheap eats in Cyprus.

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