From flakey spanakopita to stringy quesadillas, cheese finds its way into street food dishes across the globe. Nick Baines goes searching for some of the more obscure curd-driven dishes that can be found kerb-side.
Georgia
This cheese-filled bread dish is a Georgian staple but comes in many forms, depending on where in the country you happen to be. At its most basic, it’s a bread crust filled with Imeruli – a bouncy, salty fresh cheese (although aged versions are often used too). However, the most well-known version is the Adjaran khachapuri which is formed into a boat shape and often holds an egg at its centre.
Mongolia
This gnarly looking snack – Eezgii – can actually be made from goats’, camels’ or cows’ milk. It’s boiled before adding a little yoghurt or fermented milk, which helps to separate the curds. These are then air-dried until it resembles a coarse, chewy, almost jerky-like snack. Find it in the markets of the capital Ulaanbaatar for on-the-go sustenance.
China
Rubing and rushan are two cheese products that hail from the Yunnan Province of China. Both are formed from cows’ milk curds and lightly fried in oil.
Rushan, which means “milk fan” in Chinese, is made by stretching the curds thinly and wrapping them around bamboo to dry into thin sheets.
Meanwhile, rubing is formed into a heftier, Halloumi-like block and sliced. Both variations are then fried, and often dusted in sugar and served as-is.
Canada Poutine, also known as “disco fries”, has become a mainstay in the Canadian fast food canon. Fresh curds cover salty French fries before being baptised with a liquid slick of gravy. While this might sound like a perfect meal for the inebriated, it has long been a staple of diners and pubs throughout the state of Quebec. These days you’re as likely to find a high-end version in Montreal, as you are the greasy spoon variety in Quebec City.
South Korea
This street-side snack has garnered a lot of interest on TikTok. So much so that it can now be found in many major cities throughout East Asia, from Singapore to Hong Kong. Originally from South Korea, coin bread (also known as 10 Won bread), is a waffle-like batter that’s cooked in the mould of a Korean 10 Won coin and filled with a Mozzarella-style cheese. Last year, following the surge in popularity, the Bank of Korea actively requested that vendors stop making the bread to resemble the country’s currency, but coin bread continues to pop up on social media.
Benin
The reddish rind of this cows’ milk creation comes from steeping fresh cheese in the extract of a specific herb that grows in Benin, affectionately known as “cheese herb”. Wagassi doesn’t melt very easily, lending itself to being fried and used in sauces as a meat substitute, or to bulk out meals. Similar versions of this cheese can be found throughout West Africa and it is most commonly eaten as a snack with pepper paste.
Egypt
The Egyptians have a bit of a thing for pickling cheese. Areesh is a crumbly cottage cheese-style product made from yoghurt that is heated until it curdles, and then separated. Mish is perhaps the most famous iteration, and takes areesh a step further, leaving it to pickle and ferment in a mixture of buttermilk, whey, salt and a small amount of an older mish. It’s believed to be the same cheese found in a First Dynasty tomb, but you can find it today in local markets across Cairo and beyond.
Indonesia
From bakeries to street vendors, you’ll find kue keju throughout Indonesia. These salty savoury biscuits are actually a carry-over from Dutch colonial times in the 1600s, and are known in the Netherlands as kaasstengels. Seek them out across the islands of Indonesia, particularly during Lebaran, a festival that follows Ramadan, Eid, and Christmas.
This article first appeared in Good Cheese Magazine 2024-2025
