Cheese grilled on skewers is a common street food snack all over the world. Here’s how to do it at home.
Brazil’s idyllic beaches, including the country’s most popular destination, Rio de Janeiro, are known for their livelyselling ice cream, coconut water, sandwiches, the iconic snack biscoito globo , and increasingly, queijo coalho, a local treasure hailing from the Northeast. Coalho vendors parade down the white sandy beaches with rustic portable tin fire pits, ready to start grilling the cheese, which has been prepared on individual wooden skewers.
For barbecues, the popular Greek semihard halloumi should be your first choice. It’s a brine-preserved cheese made from sheep’s and goat’s milk that can be used in place of meat. It’ll work well as a burger or in a sandwich, as the protein in a colorful plate of grilled vegetables, or skewered as an appetizer. After grilling, lightly rub it with or dip it in truffle honey, or, if your budget won’t go that far, use some regular honey instead for an impressive salty-sweet contrast.
In Argentina and Uruguay, provoleta, an elastic and smoky bubbling cheese with a beautiful golden-brownish crust, is a common part of the asado meat feast . Provoletas are sold in large cylindrical pieces to be cut in thinner circles — not too thin, though — and often come to the table fully melted in a charming medium-sized cast iron.
There is a whole universe of cheese to discover when it comes to grilling, such as the Mexican queso panela or the Greek kefalotyri. It’s really a matter of your preference and what happens to be available when you want to fire up the grill.If you choose paneer, place it onto a skewer in the same manner you would for queijo coalho for a little charm and to guide individual portions.