Mish
An Egyptian fermented cheese, aged for months or years in salty whey or buttermilk in a clay jar.
Also: مش, mesh, mish cheese
Mish is one of the oldest cheese traditions in Egypt, made in villages for centuries and thought to go back to the pharaohs. Pieces of salty white cheese, often old domiati or the farm cheese called areesh, are packed into earthenware jars with a pickling liquid of salted whey, buttermilk or sour milk, sometimes with chilli and fenugreek, and left to ferment. A little old mish is added as a starter. After months or even a year or two, the cheese is soft, sharp, very salty and strongly flavoured, and the liquid is used too. Mish is eaten in small amounts with bread, onions and fava beans, especially by farmers.