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Cheese from Lebanon

Labneh balls in oil (labneh makbouseh, labneh anbaris balls)لبنة قنبريس

For Labneh Anbaris, raw goat or cow milk is fermented in earthenware jars for 7–15 days at about 30 °C, with milk and salt added again and again while the whey is drained off, until the jar is full of a dense, sharp, sour paste. That paste, or ordinary labneh, is strained further, salted, rolled into small balls and covered with olive oil, which, a 2025 review says, keeps them for months without a refrigerator.

Fully documentedCheese7 days – 15 daysFamily: Fresh lactic (acid-set) cheese family

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceMilk-to-product ratios from a 2025 review of Lebanese dairy products; households use no fixed amounts.
Raw goat or cow milk (4 % fat)About 3.5–4.3 kg per kg of Anbaris; 3.6–5.5 kg per kg of balls[dimassi2025]
Salt, added with each batch of milk and again before rolling[dimassi2025]
Olive oil, to cover the balls[dimassi2025]
Starternone; the jar's own lactic bacteria and yeasts, renewed with each addition of milk

Total time across the recorded steps: 7 days – 15 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
30 °C

What changes: Raw milk and salt go into a clay jar again and again as it sours

Step 1 of 5
Fill the jar with raw milk and salt, again and again
Time
7–15 days
Reported
Temperature
30 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

lactic bacteria and yeasts sour the milk with no starter

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

For Labneh Anbaris, raw goat or cow milk is fermented in earthenware jars for 7–15 days at about 30 °C, with milk and salt added again and again while the whey is drained off, until the jar is full of a dense, sharp, sour paste. That paste, or ordinary labneh, is strained further, salted, rolled into small balls and covered with olive oil, which, a 2025 review says, keeps them for months without a refrigerator. Made in 5 steps over 7 days – 15 days. The longest step, fill the jar with raw milk and salt, again and again, takes 7–15 days (Dimassi O 2025) and runs at 30 °C (Dimassi O 2025). In raw goat's-milk Anbaris, lactic acid bacteria and yeasts that settle quickly in the jar and stay high as fresh milk is added and In raw goat's-milk Anbaris, the yeasts Pichia kudriavzevii and Kluyveromyces marxianus, the most frequent and abundant of seven species do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step7–15 daysReported[dimassi2025]Fill the jar with raw milk and salt, again and again
Temperature30 °CReported[dimassi2025]Fill the jar with raw milk and salt, again and again
AciditypH 3.5Reported[dimassi2025]Drain the whey as it separates

What makes this one different

Labneh Anbaris is soured for one to two weeks in a clay jar, topped up with raw milk and salt, rather than strained from fresh yoghurt overnight, so it is more acidic. A 2025 review says that rolling it into balls and covering them with oil lets it keep for months without cooling. Shanklish is shaped the same way but sun-dried and aged, coated in thyme, sumac or chilli, instead of kept in oil.

Composition (Anbaris)
Fat 15.0–16.17 %, protein 5.98–9.28 %, moisture 60–70 %
Keeping
A 2025 review says the paste keeps several weeks chilled and balls under oil many months at room temperature; it does not mention botulism

Related ferments

Variants

  • Fresh Labneh AnbarisEaten as a spoonable paste; keeps several weeks chilled
  • Labneh makbousehOrdinary labneh, strained, rolled into balls and kept in olive oil

Safety

A 2025 review says low pH (down to 3.5), high acidity, low moisture and the oil hold back spoilage, and that balls keep for months at room temperature. The same review calls the inhibition of pathogens in Anbaris uncertain, because its fermentation is spontaneous, and it does not mention botulism. Khaled et al. (2022) say the olive oil over the surface inhibits mould and yeast growth, which lengthens shelf life. Raw milk added during the process carried Enterobacteriaceae and coliforms into the product in one study. The CDC says raw milk and products made from it can carry germs such as Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria, Brucella and Salmonella, and that children under 5, adults over 65, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of serious illness. The CDC also says that covering food in oil may provide the airless conditions in which botulism toxin forms, that a pH above 4.6 is among the conditions that promote the toxin, and that oil-covered vegetables have caused outbreaks. The pH of 3.5 is the figure for the Anbaris paste, not for ordinary labneh.

Hazards the sources name: In raw goat's-milk Anbaris, Enterobacteriaceae and coliforms brought in with each addition of contaminated raw milk.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

A 2025 review says Labneh Anbaris is made in spring, when milk is plentiful, and stored in clay jars for winter, and calls it an adaptation to limited refrigeration in Lebanon's mountain communities.

  1. [dimassi2025] Dimassi O., Jaber L., Fleyfel L., Hamadeh S. 2025, Milk Supply in Lebanon, Economic Challenges and the Role of Traditional Dairy Products, Foods 14(17):3115paper
  2. [ayoub2022] Ayoub M.J., Bechara P., Habchi M., Hosry R., Akl M., Haj Hassan S., Abi Nakhoul P. 2022, Raw goat's milk fermented Anbaris from Lebanon, insights into the microbial dynamics and chemical changes occurring during artisanal production, with a focus on yeasts, Journal of Dairy Research 89(4):440–448 (abstract)paper
  3. [khaled2022] Khaled S., Al Wardany H., Al Bast W. 2022, Lebanese Consumer Perception towards Moringa Oleifera, Sensory Evaluation of Moringa Oleifera Fortified Labneh, Turkish Journal of Agriculture - Food Science and Technology 10(sp2):3057–3062, doi:10.24925/turjaf.v10isp2.3057-3062.5649 (introduction)paper
  4. [cdc-rawmilk] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Raw Milkgov
  5. [cdc-oil-botulism] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MMWR, Type B Botulism Associated with Roasted Eggplant in Oil, Italy, 1993 (general statement on foods covered in oil)gov