Fig Teleme: Ancient Method

Villagers living in Iskenderun in southeastern Turkey, near where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow toward Syria, still use fig tree sap as a curdling agent to make a soft white cheese, now called Teleme. This ancient method spread throughout the Middle East and even as far as Algeria. The great Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote about the technique, describing how adding the sap of an unripe fig to fresh goat’s milk created a good white cheese.

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