When I make cheese on toast, or any cooked cheesy dish, the cheese melts, goes stringy and runs. Yet when I make kebabs with cubes of halloumi cheese, the pieces grill nicely: they don鈥檛 run, they don鈥檛 melt, they just char gently. What is the difference between halloumi cheese and other varieties?
鈥� It is partly the high fat content in cheeses such as cheddar that makes them go gooey and stringy when cooked. The fat has a low melting point and runs before the cheese browns. Low-fat cheeses such as cottage cheese will generally not melt so well when heated, but they do change in texture. This is mainly because milk protein, the other main component of cheese, is denatured by heat. The protein in high-fat cheeses denatures too, which is why melted cheddar turns into an unpleasant rubbery lump when it goes cold.
鈥淐heddar cheese that has been heated and allowed to cool becomes a rubbery lump鈥�
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This is not the whole story though, because halloumi, while delicious, is not a low-fat cheese. Halloumi is heated and partially cooked as part of its production process, so changes have already occurred before you cook it. Because of this the cheese retains its texture under the grill 鈥� it is already slightly rubbery before cooking 鈥� making it excellent to use in your kebab. If you like this type of texture, another cheese that cooks in a similar way is Indian paneer. This works well in tandoori kebabs.
Sarah Marwick, Birmingham, UK