Moroccan · Breakfast
Taklilt (Berber Fresh Cheese)
Taklilt is the simple fresh cheese of Amazigh herders — raw or fresh milk gently curdled, drained in a cloth and pressed into a soft, tangy round eaten the same day with bread, olive oil and honey or wild herbs. It is pastoral food at its most direct, made wherever there are goats and sheep in the hills.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Serves
- 6
- Level
- Easy
Ingredients
- 2 litres whole milk (goat, sheep or cow)
- 3 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Olive oil and honey, to serve
- Fresh thyme or za'atar, to serve
Method
- 1
Heat the milk
Warm the milk slowly in a heavy pot to just below a simmer, about 85°C, stirring so it does not catch.
- 2
Curdle
Take off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and leave undisturbed for 10 minutes as the curds separate from the greenish whey.
- 3
Drain
Line a colander with muslin, ladle in the curds and let the whey drip through for 20–30 minutes.
- 4
Salt and press
Fold the salt through the curds, gather the cloth and press gently into a round, then chill briefly to firm.
- 5
Serve
Turn out the cheese and serve with a drizzle of olive oil, a spoon of honey and a scatter of thyme, alongside warm bread.
Chef's tips
- Don't let the milk boil hard or the curds turn rubbery; you want a gentle scald, not a rolling boil.
- Save the whey — it is excellent for kneading into bread dough or cooking barley porridge.
- The longer you press and chill, the firmer the cheese; for a spoonable fresh curd, drain only briefly.
Frequently asked questions
Is taklilt the same as jben?
They are close cousins. Jben is the general Moroccan fresh white cheese; taklilt is the Amazigh version, traditionally from goat or sheep milk in the mountains.
Can I use pasteurised shop milk?
Yes. Whole pasteurised milk works fine; avoid UHT and ultra-filtered milk, which often refuse to curdle cleanly.