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Cheese · Brine-Aged

Domiati Cheese (Gebna Domiati)

Domiati Cheese (Gebna Domiati) — street food from Nile Delta (Tanta & Damietta), Egypt
Photo: MartinKassemJ120 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

It's traditionally made and aged directly in its own salty brine, rather than being pressed and dried like most other cheeses.

Buffalo or cow's milk is curdled and packed into brine to age, producing a soft, salty white cheese named after the Delta port city of Damietta. Street breakfast carts fold it into simple bread sandwiches with tomato and cucumber, sold alongside tea from the same cart.

Why it's made this way: Damietta has been renowned for producing this cheese since medieval times, and Domiati remains the most common cheese eaten across Egypt today, sold everywhere from Delta markets to Cairo corner shops.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries. Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below. Photo credits.