CHEESE OR GRAIN? IT’S KISHK
Kishk is one of those amazing foods that are created to overcome a situation of poverty and which turn out to be ecologically meaningful and incredibly rich in taste. I tried it for the first time at the Slowfood Convention in Torino, where a Lebanese delegation had come to present this traditional product from the village of Majdelzoun, near Tyre. Kishk tastes like fresh goat cheese. It is often flavored with herbs and spices and preserved in olive oil. When I asked how it was actually made, I discovered that there was not a drop of milk in it and that it was actually made by fermenting wheat, or more precisely by fermenting bulgour (which is parboiled wheat) in salty water for several weeks and by rolling the fermented paste into small balls. Wheat was the only product readily available to poor farmers and fermentation, being a reaction with the microorganism that live in the surrounding environment, made up for a unique and complex flavor. The rhythms of making kishk were adapted to the times of harvest and of grinding the grain in the mills. The mixture was left to ferment in the normal environment (no fridges) and it adapted to those conditions. Basically, a tale of great resourcefulness.
It is really surprising to be confronted with a grain product that tastes so much like cheese and that draws so much of its character from…the surrounding air. Especially at a time when dominating discourse on food relies on refrigeration and sterile environments – as if the history of our foods was not the result of a clever bond with the life that surrounds us (micro-organisms, yeasts and bacteria included).
A few months ago, I tried to make my own kishk, adapting a very reliable and simple recipe from the book “Wild Fermentation” by Sandor Ellix Katz. Basically, all I had to do was mix buttermilk and wheat in a jar, knead it once a day for about 9 days and then let it dry in the oven until I could roll it up into balls. The experiment was very successful. I then tried again using yogurt instead of buttermilk but the mix develop almost an alcohol-like smell I was not too fond off. I then tried buttermilk mixed with cous cous, and the texture of the kishk was even smoother and more pleasant in taste. With or without spices, it is a very delicious grain-cheese that one can make at home with very little effort (the main thing is to choose a glass or ceramic container, place it in a clean and warm spot and cover it with cheesecloth so that the mixture can breathe).
Why make kishk at all? For me it is all about the pleasure of a unique flavor that develops over time and which is always different. It is also a form of resourcefulness, making the best out of very simple ingredients. And also an adventure, trying to understand the process behind food.
Kishk is made by fermenting goats milk and bulgur and salt then sundrying while rubbing into a powder periodically. So you were right, it is a dairy product