The Dish: Cucumber lemon herb toast with 'Loveneh' from Merion Park Cheese Co.
MERION STATION, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- In this edition of The Dish we're whipping up a fresh, healthy dish that works as an appetizer or a meal.
We head to Merion Station, Montgomery County to meet the two families who teamed up to create one of their staple cultural dishes: labneh.
They call their product "Loveneh," and we're using it to make a delicious cucumber lemon toast that's perfect for the season.
Loveneh is a homemade, homegrown labneh - a thick, tangy and slightly salty dip or spread.
"Labneh is not that well known in the U.S., but it's very well known in other parts of the world," says Emiliano Tatar, owner of Merion Park Cheese Co. "It's a Middle Eastern/Armenian/Balkan dish."
They played off of the word "love" because Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love. And it's made with love as a collaboration between two local families.
Emiliano and his wife Lori are pediatricians and the dairy creators behind Merion Park Cheese Co. - or as they like to call themselves, "cheese doctors."
They teamed up with the Fereshetian family. Three generations of their family have been making Erivan yogurt for more than half a century.
"My mother started Erivan in her kitchen 55 years ago," explains Paul Fereshetian.
Erivan is an authentic Armenian yogurt.
"Ours is very distinct," Fereshetian says. "It's very tangy. It's much more tart than people often will expect."
Erivan is the base for the Loveneh.
You can find it on the shelves of local markets and retailers like Whole Foods and in restaurants across the region. Bolo in Center City uses it in their dishes.
"Mike Solomonov puts it on the menu at Zahav and Dizengoff pretty consistently," Emiliano says.
You'll even find Loveneh in the James Beard award winner's latest cookbook.
Lori says you can also use Loveneh for baking.
"Any time you see sour cream or yogurt in a recipe, you could sub out Loveneh," Lori says.
For instance, she adds some vanilla, sugar and sour cream to the Loveneh and whips up a topping for her homemade cheesecake.
The idea is to share their culture, one schmear at a time.
Cucumber lemon 'Loveneh' toast from Merion Station Cheese Co.
Ingredients:
- Sourdough bread (or choose your favorite)
- Herbs: mint, thyme and basil
- One whole cucumber
- One lemon
- Extra virgin olive oil
- One container of Loveneh
- Pinch of salt
Directions:
1. Slice your sourdough bread and toast the slices in a pan with the olive oil.
2. Cut the cucumber into ribbons. Curl up the pretty cucumber ribbons and toss with fresh squeezed lemon juice and some olive oil.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the Loveneh with the chopped fresh herbs, some lemon zest and a pinch of salt.
4.Shmear that Loveneh mixture onto the toasted bread, layer on the dressed cucumber ribbons and garnish with some more chopped herbs, lemon zest and crushed red pepper flakes for a little kick.
