@Alex
Hey Alex. Thanks for the low-down. Actually, Jibne'h is the Arabic word for cheese in general, and not a
specific type of cheese. Knafe'h is made from Nablusi. I know this because i spent most of my life in the middle east... Dubai to be precise. I am from India, a country that is known for its milk production.
The reason I am looking for the recipe for Akawi is because it is used in one of my favorite
mezze called Cheese Manakeesh (Manaeesh etc) ALSO...., there just isn't enough info on the web to explain Akawi. Yeah, sure, they tell you where it comes from and its history, but where is the "how to" for it. You have it for other cheeses, what about this one?
So I just started looking for it online, scoping out dairy farms in India and abroad...and speaking to restaurant owners in Dubai and neighboring countries.... and what i found was pretty surprising to say the least. Akawi, a cheese that is primarily used in dishes in the Levant and middle east, is produced mostly in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria and in some instances in Canada, with a tiny amount being produced in the Middle east. It seems most restaurants in the middle east IMPORT their Akawi from these countries.
Why? Well, from what i gathered is because the middle east don't relly have that many cows to produce that much milk for processing. It's that simple.
Now I am one of those people who cannot be satisfied with an explanation as such, and would prefer to delve deeper and get to the source of the problem, and after identifying the problem, come up with a solution of my own, or be satisfied then with the status quo.
I hope you're not regretting querying my eagerness at this point.
In any case, it has now become a mission for me to get the perfect, or close enough to perfect, recipe for making my own Akawi.
I know,
just know, there's someone out there that can help me with this dilemma.
Good luck and god speed!!