Ingredient Focus: Cheese

Cheese is an ingredient you’ll find in virtually every kitchen across the region, regardless of the style of cuisine — but what types do chefs find their guests prefer and how easy is it for them to get what they need?

“Cheese is one of the most common ingredients in the Middle East and it’s also a favourite ingredient for many chefs all over the world,” says Eataly regional executive chef Hadi El Awar, when asked about its popularity. According to him, the most popular cheese is parmigiano reggiano.

“It is used a lot in the Middle East for everything from salads to deserts, pastas and pizzas. It’s even perfectly edible on its own,” he states.

Per Te Ristorante e Café executive chef Andrea Russo says that his customers favour “parmesan, burrata and mozzarella” and the Italian native tells Caterer he sources his parmesan from Italy, while he gets his burrata locally, from a firm called Italian Dairy Products. He reports facing no challenges in finding what he needs.

El Awar concurs: “It’s not that much of a challenge. An efficient, effective supply chain is becoming increasingly key to success within the dairy industry. Time, temperature, humidity, cost, distance, demand, forecasting, and packaging are all important considerations in developing a strong dairy supply chain.”

El Sur head chef Juan Carlos comments: “There has definitely been a rise in the popularity of cheese in the region and we are starting to see more and more products from around the world entering the market. The products still to gain traction with the local clientele are cured and blue cheeses, which can be explained by their strong flavours and, hence, are not as popular. At El Sur, we offer manchego cheese and a goat’s cheese with a very delicate aroma and interesting crumbly texture, which is is very popular with our guests.”

Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah head chef Jens Muenchenbach says that cheese is particularly popular in the region among expats, reporting that the preferred types “depend largely on the heritage of the consumer and what they are used to”.

He remarks that there are no real challenges in sourcing, sharing: “The limitations to get even the freshest produce are quite non-existent. You can get more or less everything here; the options are endless.”

El Sur’s Carlos agrees: “Suppliers are pushing the boundaries each year with the varieties and products that they import into the region. We can even buy a range of high-quality artisan cheeses like ‘Garrotxa’, a traditional goat’s milk cheese produced in the Garrotxa area of Spain and one which we serve on the El Sur menu.”

There are some obstacles, however, he concedes: “One of the challenges we face here in the region are specific restrictions from the suppliers. They require their cheeses to be bought in large quantities, which can create conflict with the restaurant’s operations as we simply cannot store large amounts of the product at the appropriate conditions.

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Additionally, the temperature in which the cheese is stored while being imported can be overlooked. There have been situations when a good cheese has been imported at too high of a temperature, which has spoiled the cheese.”

Abs Patil from Big Chefs agrees that sourcing cheese is not difficult in the Middle East but the quality and authenticity “depends on how far you can stretch your budget”, adding that not very many restaurant can afford to put premium PDO cheeses, for example, on their menu.

“Exploring local cheese is something I have always preferred; Turkish cheeses are quite popular and we include certain Turkish cheese in our Big Chefs restaurants. Some of the known and popular Turkish cheeses are kashkawal, dill, beyas and tulum,” he reveals.

Continuing, he adds: “As cheese is getting [more] popular in Middle East region, the notable part is that the restaurants are carefully choosing their cheeses. People are getting more familiar with cheeses like gruyère, brie, stilton and gouda. Cheese for breakfast and after dinner is setting the trend.

"Even though mozzarella cheese is at the top of my list, I would also say having premium buffalo mozzarella on your menu is a must. Burrata is expensive but once eaten is never forgotten. Pairing of cheese with the right meat or ingredient is the core rule to avoid over powering either the cheese or the other principal ingredient.”

During the recent Italian Cuisine Summit in the UAE, Caterer Middle East asked president and chairman of Grana Padano PDO Cheese Protection Consortium Nicola Baldrighi about the growing demand for Italian cheeses in the UAE in particular.

He commented: “We see the import of Italian dairy products, specifically cheeses, into the UAE growing each year which is a clear indication of the need and want for our quality products in the country. With the rapid and continued growth of the F&B industry and Italian restaurants, it provides a great opportunity for us.”

He revealed that Grana Padano is doing well in the UAE market in Italian restaurants and among expats, and added: “We are trying to promote it to Arabian customers through Italian restaurants and it’s starting to become more familiar to them. We also found out that they like the younger cheese — around 14 to 16 months. It’s more milky and sweet.”

Speaking about other cheeses, he highlighted “mozzarella , gorgonzola and mascarpone” as popular in the UAE.

Did you know?
Grana Padano is the best-selling PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) cheese in the world. Its crumbly texture is created by its lengthy ageing process and it was ‘invented’ nearly 1,000 years ago by the Cistercian monks of Chiaravalle Abbey, near Milan. The monks created a recipe to make a cheese that could withstand the test of time using the surplus of milk.