If you've never had halloumi but have heard of it somewhere, you may be wondering why I'm cooking cheese directly on a grill. Won't it melt and stick? Won't it get all greasy? No and no. Halloumi is a very firm cheese whose appearance resembles that of tofu. Originating from Cyprus, halloumi is made of a mixture of goat's and sheep's (and sometimes cow's) milk. It's widely consumed in Cyrpus (duh), Greece, and Turkey. It's mild in flavor and fries/grills easily due to its high melting point. If you've never heard of halloumi, well, there you have it. I just gave you the rundown.
Having just come back from a family trip to Turkey, I, with no surprise, had my first halloumi experience in Turkey. The only thing is, I did not know that that was halloumi. I had heard of halloumi prior to my vacation and read about this up and coming popular cheese. I knew the interesting cheese in the sandwich they were handing out on our Turkish Airlines flights was unlike anything I've ever had. I also knew there was one particular type of cheese that kept tricking my dad into thinking it was tofu during our hotel breakfasts, but I just didn't bother putting two and two together.
Once I came back home and read once more about halloumi on the Internet, asked my sister if she knew what it was, and then came to the revelation that oh, we did have halloumi, I started getting excited. And here I say, "Hello, you!" to halloumi:
Surprisingly, halloumi is pretty easy to access. Just pop into your local Trader Joe's and, if your particular branch is hip and cool enough to have this in stock, there it will be. However, at $5 a box with 6 small slices of halloumi, this cheese is no cheap thing.
So, my sister and I decided to grill our halloumi (healthier), slap it on some toasted bread with grilled bell pepper slices and pesto and voila! A quick, tasty, and healthy sandwich materializes.
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