Labneh (48-Hour Strained Yogurt Cheese)

Check your yogurt's ingredient list: it must contain only milk and live cultures — no gelatin, pectin, starch, or 'natural flavors'. These stabilizers bind the water in the yogurt and prevent it from draining, giving you a rubbery, wet result after 48 hours of effort. In a large bowl, stir the salt thoroughly into the yogurt. The salt serves two purposes: it flavors the labneh directly and draws out water through osmosis, accelerating the draining process. Stir for a full 60 seconds until the salt is completely dissolved — you should not be able to feel any grains when you rub a small amount between your fingers. The mixture will immediately loosen slightly as the salt begins drawing water out.

Line a fine mesh strainer or colander with a double layer of dampened cheesecloth (or a clean, thin linen towel). Set it over a deep bowl that can catch at least 400 ml of liquid — the bowl must not touch the strainer's bottom, so the whey drips freely. Pour the salted yogurt into the center of the cheesecloth. Gather the four corners and tie them together with kitchen twine. You can let the bundle hang over the bowl by tying the twine to a wooden spoon rested across the bowl's rim, or simply place the strainer and bowl in the refrigerator uncovered. Refrigerator straining is safer for food safety and gives a more controlled pace — 24 hours for a soft, spreadable labneh, 36 hours for a thicker, ball-able labneh, 48 hours for labneh firm enough to roll into spheres and preserve in oil.

Unwrap the labneh carefully from the cheesecloth and place it on a wide, shallow plate. Use the back of a spoon to spread it outward in a sweeping motion, creating a roughly circular mound with a thick ridge around the edge and a slight depression in the center — this is the traditional presentation that holds pools of olive oil. Drizzle olive oil generously into the center well and across the surface. Scatter the chopped herbs and flaky salt over the top. Serve at room temperature with warm flatbread, raw vegetables, olives, and other mezze. Labneh stored plain (without garnish) keeps refrigerated for 2 weeks; rolled into balls and submerged in olive oil with herbs, it keeps for up to a month.