Arabic & Levantine Pantry Guide
Kashkaval (Qashqawan): The Golden Melting Cheese for Manakish and Pastries
Kashkaval (known in Arabic as jibnet qashqawan) is a smooth, golden-yellow semi-hard stretched-curd cheese beloved across the Levant, Turkey and the Balkans. With its rich, buttery tang and effortless melt, it is the classic yellow cheese for topping manakish flatbreads, sujuk rolls, savoury pastries and toasted sandwiches.
Stretched-Curd Texture and Rich, Tangy Flavour
Closely related to Italian caciocavallo, kashkaval belongs to the pasta filata family of cheeses: warm curds made from cow's milk, sheep's milk or a blend of both are kneaded and stretched in hot water before being moulded into smooth yellow wheels and aged. Unlike mild mozzarella, kashkaval develops a savoury, buttery depth and a pleasant salty bite while keeping an elastic texture that grates cleanly and melts into golden bubbles.
On Manakish, Muhammara Flatbreads and Sujuk Toasties
In bakeries across Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine, coarsely grated qashqawan is scattered over freshly rolled flatbread dough and baked in a blazing oven. Bakers often blend it with white akkawi cheese for the ultimate cheese manakish, or melt it over spicy red pepper muhammara, garlicky beef sujuk sausages, luncheon meat or baked eggs. Cold slices or cubes of kashkaval are also set out on the breakfast table alongside olives, tomatoes and sweet black tea.
How to Grate and Store Kashkaval
For clean, fluffy shreds, grate kashkaval on the coarse side of a box grater straight from the refrigerator while the wheel is firm. Wrap any remaining cheese in baking parchment followed by an airtight container in the cheese drawer so the cut surface does not dry out.