Shanklish also known as shinklish, shankleesh, sorke, or sürke, is a type of cow's milk

Mikk

Mikk is an Estonian masculine given name, a version of Michael.People named Mikk include:*Mikk-Mihkel Arro , decathlete*Mikk Haavistu , football player*Mikk Mikiver , stage and film actor and theater director...

 or sheep milk

Sheep milk

Sheep's milk is the milk of domestic sheep. Though not widely drunk in any modern culture, sheep's milk is commonly used to make cultured dairy products. Well-known cheeses made from sheep milk include the Feta of Greece, Roquefort of France, Manchego from Spain, the Pecorino Romano , the Pecorino...

 cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....

 in Levantine

Levantine cuisine

Levantine cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the Levant, known in Arabic as the Bilad ash-Sham. This region shared many culinary traditions under the Ottoman Empire which continue to be influential today...

. It is typically formed into balls of approximately 6 cm diameter, which are often covered in za'atar

Za'atar

Za'atar is a generic name for a family of related Middle Eastern herbs from the genera Origanum , Calamintha , Thymus vulgaris and Satureja . It is also the name for a condiment made from the dried herb, mixed together with sesame seeds, dried sumac, and often salt, as well as other spices...

 and Aleppo pepper

Aleppo pepper

The Aleppo pepper in Turkish) is a variety of Capsicum annuum used as a spice, particularly in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. Also known as the Halaby pepper, it starts as pods which ripen to a burgundy color and is then semi-dried, de-seeded, then crushed or coarsely ground...

, and then aged and dried. The most common spice is thyme

Thyme

Thyme is a culinary and medicinal herb of the genus Thymus.-History:Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing it was a source of courage...

, thus giving the cheese its appearance somewhat resembling a dirty tennis ball

Tennis ball

A tennis ball is a ball designed for the sport of tennis,approximately 6.7 cm in diameter. Tennis balls are generally bright green, but in recreational play can be virtually any color. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous fluffy felt which modifies their aerodynamic properties...

. Shanklish is also sold in much smaller balls or unformed.

Shanklish varies greatly in its texture and flavour. Fresh cheeses have a soft texture and mild flavour; those dried and aged for a longer period become progressively harder and can acquire an extremely pungent odour and flavour. To make spicier cheeses, spices such as aniseed and chilli

Chile powder

Chili powder is the ground, dried fruit of one or more varieties of chili pepper, sometimes with the addition of other spices . It is used as a spice to add piquance and flavor to dishes. In American English the name is usually spelled "chili", or, less commonly, "chile"...

 can be mixed in before the cheese is formed into balls. Spicy shanklish are often covered in chilli, especially in Syria, thus appear red. Shanklish from the Syrian coastal plain around Tartus and the adjoining northern Lebanese region of Akkar are considered particularly delectable; these tend to be hard, with a clean strong flavour and near-white colour.

Shanklish is generally eaten with finely-chopped tomato

Tomato

The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...

, onion

Onion

The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...

, and olive oil

Olive oil

Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...

; and often accompanied by araq. It is a common meze

Meze

Meze or mezze is a selection of small dishes served in the Mediterranean and Middle East as dinner or lunch, with or without drinks. In Levantine cuisines and in the Caucasus region, meze is served at the beginning of all large-scale meals....

 dish. Shanklish is also mashed up with eggs or crushed in a pita with cucumber

Cucumber

The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...

s, mint

Mentha

Mentha is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae . The species are not clearly distinct and estimates of the number of species varies from 13 to 18. Hybridization between some of the species occurs naturally...

, and olive oil for breakfast.