🧀 Rumi cheese
Also known as: Gebna rumi, Roumy cheese, جبنة رومي
Rumi cheese (gebna rumi, also called Ras or Romy) is an Egyptian hard, aged cheese made from cow's milk or a mixture of cow's and buffalo's milk.
Rumi cheese (gebna rumi) is Egypt's leading traditional hard cheese, known across Egypt and the Arab world as Roumy and also called Ras. It is made under artisan conditions from cow's milk, buffalo milk or a mix, and eaten after about three months of ripening, once its pungent, sharp flavour has developed. 3
In Egypt rumi also matters to industry. Processed cheese there is largely made from Cheddar bought abroad with foreign currency, and rumi is the obvious local alternative, but researchers list its problems: mould on the surface, a hard rind, high salt, aflatoxin and Clostridium bacteria. In 2024 a team in Alexandria made a new hard cheese from pasteurised milk with protective cultures to fill that gap. 1
In the traditional method, raw milk is warmed to 32 °C and renneted; it sets in about 45 minutes. The curd is cut with half-inch knives and heated to 45 °C with stirring until its acidity reaches 0.14 %. Two-thirds of the whey is drained, 1.5 % salt is added for 15 minutes, the cheese is pressed overnight and its surface is salted for a week before it is waxed or vacuum-sealed. 3
Fresh rumi holds about 40 % moisture, or up to 47–49 % depending on the milk and method, and it dries as it ages. 3 In market cheese, moisture fell from 35.2 % at one month to 26.9 % at six months while salt rose from 2.6 % to 3.7 %, which is why older rumi is harder and saltier. 1
Rumi made from raw milk has been found to taste better than pasteurised rumi, thanks to fermentation by the milk's own microflora, but its flavour and composition vary widely. 3
After a few weeks of storage a white, felt-like growth can cover the surface. Researchers have isolated 13 fungal species from 6 genera on rumi, among them Geotrichum candidum, several Aspergillus species including A. flavus, Penicillium, Mucor and Rhizopus. 2
Safety deserves attention. A study across the Nile Delta recovered Salmonella from 44 of 280 samples of rumi and pasteurised Kareish cheese, or 15.71 %, and nearly four in five of the isolates were resistant to several antibiotics. 4
Facts
| Raw material | Cow's milk or cow's and buffalo's milk 2 |
|---|---|
| Country | Egypt 2 |
| Duration | Marketed after about 3 to 6 months 2 |
| Taste | Pungent, sharp, saltier with age 13 |
| Legal basis | Egyptian standards: pasteurised milk, at least 60% solids, 45% fat in solids 3 |
| Region | Egypt and Arab countries 3 |
How it connects to Cheese
🧀 Rumi cheese ← gives ← 🔄 Curdling → gives → 🧀 Cheese
Links
- Made from which milk
- 🥛 Cow's milk, 🥛 Buffalo milk
- How it is made
- 🔄 Curdling, 🔄 Ripening
- What is needed
- 🧫 Rennet, 🧂 Salt
- What it contains
- 🧪 Milk fat
- Traditions
- 🌍 Anatolia and the Middle East
- Part of
- 🪨 Hard cheeses
- Similar and different
- 🧀 Kefalotyri
Frequently asked questions
Is it true that rumi is always made from raw milk?
No. It is traditionally made from raw milk, but Egyptian standards require pasteurised milk. [3]
What do Egyptian standards require of rumi?
Pasteurised milk, at least 60 % solids, 45 % fat in the solids, and no pathogenic microorganisms. [3]
What changes when rumi uses pasteurised milk?
Like the traditional cheese, but the milk gets a 1:1 starter of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus, and rennet goes in once acidity reaches 0.19 %. [3]
How does rumi differ from Domiati?
Domiati is a soft white cheese named after Damietta, salted in the milk itself and often kept in brine; rumi is a pressed, ripened hard cheese. [3]
Which Salmonella types were found in the Nile Delta study?
Mostly Typhimurium, Enteritidis and Infantis. [4]
What to read next
- 🧪 Milk fat — ~3.5% in cow's milk.
- 🔄 Curdling — Rennet coagulates casein into a curd (the basis of cheese).
- 🧫 Rennet — An enzyme (chymosin) that curdles milk for cheese.
- 🌍 Anatolia and the Middle East — A region where Europe, Asia and Africa meet, from Turkey and Cyprus to Iran, Arabia and Egypt; one of the cradles of dairying, land of ayran and labneh, and the homeland of the olive.
- 🧀 Kefalotyri — Kefalotyri is a hard Greek cheese made traditionally from sheep's milk or a mix of sheep's and goat's milk.
Similar
🧀 Wensleydale · 🧀 Gruyère · 🧀 Tête de Moine · 🧀 Kefalotyri · 🧀 Emmental · 🧀 Sbrinz
ℹ️ Dairy products contain lactose and milk proteins: if you are lactose intolerant or allergic to milk protein, ask a doctor.
Sources
- Shehata E. et al., Producing Egyptian Hard Cheese as an Alternative to Cheddar in Processed Cheese, International Journal of Dairy Science 19(2), 2024
- El-Fadaly H. A. et al., Role of Fungal Enzymes in the Biochemistry of Egyptian Ras Cheese during Ripening Period, Open Access Library Journal 2(8), 2015
- Hammam A. R. A. et al. Characteristics and Technological Aspects of the Egyptian Cheeses. IJCMAS 9 (6), 2020
- Elzhraa F. et al. Rumi and Pasteurized Kareish Cheeses Are a Source of β-Lactam-Resistant Salmonella. Antibiotics 13 (5), 2024
- Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 — registration of PDOs including Kefalograviera