Hospitality: cheeses that mark them
The plate of cheese set before a guest, and the cheese that says welcome.
In many cultures, a guest is offered cheese before anything else is asked: bread and white cheese in a Turkish or Persian home, feta and olives in Greece, khachapuri at a Georgian supra, butter tea and churpi in a Himalayan house, aaruul with milk tea in a Mongolian ger, and paneer pakoras or a plate of sweets with tea in an Indian living room. Cheese keeps, needs no cooking and can be set out in a moment.
Bread, salt and cheese
Across the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Middle East, bread with white cheese is the simplest token of welcome. In Georgia, the supra, a feast led by a toastmaster called the tamada, never lacks khachapuri and plates of sulguni and imeruli. In Iran and Afghanistan, guests are offered bread, cheese, walnuts and fresh herbs. In Lebanon and Syria, the mezze table brings labneh, halloumi and shanklish, and a guest is pressed to eat more than they can.
Mountain welcome
In Himalayan homes in Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Ladakh, a guest receives butter tea or sweet milk tea, with pieces of churpi or datshi and roasted barley or maize. In Mongolia, a visitor to a ger is handed a bowl of milk tea and a plate of aaruul and other dairy foods, offered and received with the right hand, supported by the left. Alpine huts welcome walkers with cheese, bread and a glass of milk or wine.
In India
An Indian host offers tea with something to eat, and paneer pakoras, cheese sandwiches or a box of sweets of chhena are common choices for visitors. At festival times, households keep boxes of sweets ready for each guest who calls. In Bengal, no visit is complete without a plate of mishti, rasgulla or sandesh, set out on arrival. Gurdwaras offer langar to all who come, and on festival days it often includes paneer.
Worth knowing
- Khachapuri: The bread of the Georgian supra
- Sulguni: Georgian cheese set before guests
- Chhurpi: Offered with butter tea in the Himalaya
- Aaruul: Offered with milk tea in Mongolia
- Labneh: Strained yoghurt cheese of the mezze table
- Feta: With olives and bread in Greece
- Sandesh: Set out for guests in Bengal
Sources and further reading
Original text by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.
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