Dish of the day · Dishle #46 answer · July 27, 2026

What Is Halloumi? Cyprus's Squeaky Grilling Cheese

Halloumi is a firm, brined cheese from Cyprus that grills and fries without melting into a puddle. Traditionally made from a blend of sheep and goat milk, it has a springy texture and a salty bite that softens when warmed. The name comes through Cypriot Arabic, probably from an older word for a salted cheese. Cypriots also call it hellim in Turkish. Cook a slice and the surface turns golden while the inside stays chewy, with a famous squeak against your teeth.

A short history

Cheesemaking on Cyprus reaches back thousands of years, and halloumi as we know it likely took shape during the medieval period, when the island sat at a busy crossroads of Mediterranean trade. Food historians trace written mentions of the cheese back several centuries. Shepherds preserved surplus milk by salting the curd and keeping it in brine, which let it last through warm months without refrigeration. Folding the curd and soaking it in whey gave halloumi its layered, sliceable body. In 2021, Cyprus secured EU protected designation of origin status, tying the name to the island and its traditional recipe. Today the cheese is a major Cypriot export, shipped well beyond the eastern Mediterranean.

What’s in it?

At its core, halloumi is just milk, rennet, and salt. The traditional version blends sheep and goat milk, though many supermarket blocks now add cow milk, which makes the cheese firmer and milder. Fresh mint is often folded between the layers or used to line the brine, adding a cool herbal note. The curd is heated in hot whey, which is what gives halloumi its high melting point and rubbery snap. Salt does double duty, seasoning the cheese and helping it keep for weeks in its brine.

How do you eat it?

Halloumi is built for heat. Slice it thick, then grill, pan-fry, or griddle each side until golden and crisp at the edges while the middle stays soft. Cypriots eat it for breakfast, tuck it into pita with vegetables, or pair it with watermelon in summer, the sweet fruit balancing the salt. A squeeze of lemon and a scatter of mint are classic finishes. It also drops into salads, slides onto skewers for the grill, and crisps up in a sandwich with tomato and cucumber. Because the cheese is already salty, you rarely need to season it before cooking. Eat it hot and fresh from the pan, since it firms up again as it cools.

All dish guides · Dishle #46 hints & answer · Puzzle archive