🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Palestinians

Palestinians are an Arab people connected with the historic region of Palestine on the eastern Mediterranean coast. In Palestinian cuisine dairy is part of the everyday table: it is served at breakfast with flatbread, olive oil, olives and herbs. Milk comes from sheep, goats and cows.

Labneh — a thick, salty strained yogurt — is especially popular. It is eaten fresh, and for keeping it is rolled into balls, sometimes coated in za’atar and covered with olive oil. As in Jordan, jameed is known — a dried salted yogurt used to dress mansaf and other dishes. White brined cheeses are also common, such as Nabulsi, named after the city of Nablus.

Studies of diet in the Levant show that in the mid-20th century food here was mostly local and seasonal, while from the end of the century the share of shop-bought and processed foods grew noticeably. Home methods of preserving milk — labneh in oil, jameed — nonetheless remain an important part of the culinary heritage.