After our walk around the farm (link) we headed to the cheese making labs where @AlbanDairy products are made And the fun part begins

بعد جولتنا الصباحية بالمزرعة توجهنا لمصنع الأجبان

Cheese making is much harder than cheese eating There is a whole process going on behind the scenes here! Lots of stirring and separations… lots of pressure applied, heat, boiling… you name it

عملية صنع الأجبان ليست سهلة كأكلها و لكنها ممتعة بالتأكيد

Dana and I were asked to get cleaned and sanitized, wear waterproof aprons, and be extra careful with heat and all! We jumped in to help in some of the processes used

أنا و دانة ماقصرنا بعد حبينا نشاركهم – غسلنا و تعقمنا و لبسنا لباس ضد الماء والحرارة و شاركناهم بعملية تحضير الأجبان

Abu Yazeed in the factory preparing the white sheets to make some cheese… first batch will be Halloumi

بو يزيد حضر بعض الأقمشة اللازمة لصنع الجبن

Cheese is ready to be used now – lets get those hands working

As you can see… pictures will say it all It will take you through the process of filling, wrapping, pressurizing, cutting, boiling…. and packaging

يتم وضع الجبن داخل القماش و من ثم يتم لفه بإحكام و إستخدام آله للضغط

Now its my turn to try… we had so much fun that day

جاء دوري في عمل الجبن مع الفريق

Pressure is applied…. you will see the end result soon Be patient

الجبن تحت الضغط – عملية يدوية مثل ماتشوفون – و هذا اللي يميز منتجات ألبان! الصراحة حبيتهم أكثر لأن شغلهم يداوي و طبيعي

Some flavors are added to some kinds of cheese such as black seeds… same process later applies

الأجبان عندهم متنوعة و أحيانا يضيفون لها نكهات مثل حبة البركة

And now its time for Akawi… and let me brag a bit please! I mastered it (kind of lol)

حان موعد الجبنة العكاوي و أنا الصراحة حبيت طريقة عملها لانها مو سهلة وايد بس ممتعة

Anyways.. enough bragging, let me take you back to the cheese making

Yep! That is me in the background busy making Akawi cheese

And the Halloumi is ready to get cut and boiled…..

والحين نرجع للحلوم… جاهز بعد الضغط للتقطيع والتجهيز

After it was boiled… I tried one, hot and fresh right then and there and let me tell you this! I have never tasted any halloumi cheese this fresh! It was so good! This is coming from a person who favors Swiss, gruyere, emmental, edam, blue cheese, gorgonzola … etc kind of cheese! Yes it was THAT good! Was still hot and soft <3

جربت قطعة جبن حلوم بعد الغلي مباشرة وكانت لذيذة لأبعد الحدود – طازجة و ترفه!

Wanted to have more but I cannot do that to you guys! I will affect the production of that day so I saved you all some to find in the market

الصراحة كان ودي أقضي على الجبن أكثر بس قلت لازم أخلي لكم منه شوي بالسوق

And the packaging begins.. it was an experience – a trip I will always remember

هني تبدي عملية التعبئة

Other random pictures of different kinds of cheese we made (helped making): more halloumi, baladi, braided, Nablusi

والمزيد من الأجبان هنا: حلوم و جبن بلدي و الجبن المجدل و النابلسي

Baladi strips above are soaked and then rolled (below)

Check this one out… popcorn like in shape but soft in texture, goes under heat (around 90C), forms into a softer dough, then worked with hands to get the braided cheese – see pictures below

Yummmmmy

Nablusi cheese – salted generously – gives it long-live

And for a break from all the cheese, we were served Fresh Laban

و وقت الإستراحة ضيفونا بشراب اللبن الطازج

Stay tuned for the last part of my day trip to Yasmin Farms soon

الجولة الأخيرة بالمزرعة بعد قليل

To be continued….. 

Yasmin Farms (link) – Twitter @AlbanDairy