Cheeses are one of those food items that cross borders easily. I have had both Cypriot and Lebanese haloumi, and they are identicle! (Quality varies from maker to maker, of course, but other than that, the physical characteristics of the cheese are the same.)

As far as Cyprus is concerned, the southern portion is strongly affiliated with Greece, but is an independent country (former British colony, granted independent in 1960). More details at the CIA Factbook: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/cy.html

I didn’t realize there was Lebanese version of halloumi, although I guess I shouldn’t be surprised – we learned about halloumi while in Cyprus with a friend who’d grown up in Lebanon and spent a lot of time vacationing in Cyprus. So it’s not surprising there’s some cross-over in the treatment of milks!

At this point, I see no reason to read Taste of Home in the closet. That might have been true, even a few years ago, when the issues I picked up had enough Cheez Wiz, canned soup, Jello and Cool Whip in the recipes to make my stomach try to vacate the body and run off to Rio to hide.

But from what I have been seeing recently, the quality of recipes has gone up and the editing and photography has improved greatly as well. Now, it just reads as good, honest, plain old American country cooking–and there is nothing wrong with that.

That’s what I grew up eating, after all….

I have been lurking and reading your archives.( I will be adding you to my link list, but it might take me awhile) I really am enjoying your posts. I had to comment on this post because Welle’s article was a load of BS. Good for you for linking to some of the well known lunch bloggers (nudges Kirk). I was surpised how well Welles shot himself in the foot in the same article.
I had know Taste of Home had a large readership ( I think I read it somewheres), but I think I had filed it under misc info. Lately I have been known to sneak off with my Mother in Laws copy and read it in the closet. It is pretty good magazine.

I heard about the NPR story on Taste of Home a while back, but haven’t listened to it yet. I probably should.

You are correct–haloumi should be more specifically noted as Cyrpriot–though of course, Cyprus is part of Greece.

I have had Lebanese haloumi as well.It is really great cheese.