How do I cook halloumi so it is not rubbery?

Halloumi is a high-melting-point cheese, which is why it can be fried at all. That same property means it firms up dramatically as it cools, and most complaints about rubbery halloumi are really about timing.

Step by step

1. Slice it about 1cm thick.Thinner and it dries out before it colours; thicker and the middle is still cold and dense when the outside is browned.
2. Pat it dry.Halloumi is stored in brine and comes out wet. A wet surface steams instead of browning, which is a large part of the squeaky texture people dislike.
3. Soak it briefly if it is very salty.Ten to twenty minutes in cold water for a strongly brined block. Dry it thoroughly afterwards.
4. Use a hot dry pan.Non-stick or well-seasoned cast iron, properly preheated, and no oil — halloumi releases enough of its own fat. Oil makes it greasy rather than crisp.
5. Cook 60 to 90 seconds a side.Until deeply golden with brown patches. Turn once. Longer than about three minutes total and it tightens noticeably.
6. Do not move it while it colours.It needs contact time to brown. Shuffling it around gives pale, squeaky cheese.
7. Serve it immediately.This is the most important step. Halloumi is excellent hot and rubbery within five minutes of cooling, and there is no way to recover it.
8. Add acid at the table.Lemon, lime, pomegranate molasses, hot honey or chilli. Halloumi is salty and fatty and needs something sharp against it.
9. Consider grilling or barbecuing it.It holds together on a griddle or barbecue better than almost any other cheese, which is what it is for. Same rules — hot, fast, served straight away.
10. Do not reheat it.Reheated halloumi is worse than cold. Cook only what will be eaten immediately.

Tips

• Serve it the second it leaves the pan. Everything else is secondary to that.
• No oil in the pan. Halloumi provides its own fat and oil makes it greasy.
• Something sharp alongside — lemon or chilli — is what makes it worth eating rather than just salty.

Common mistakes

• Cooking halloumi ahead and serving it later — The proteins tighten as it cools, so cheese that was golden and yielding becomes dense and squeaky within a few minutes. Nothing reverses it, and reheating makes it worse.
• Frying it in oil — Halloumi has plenty of its own fat and releases it in a hot pan. Adding oil means it fries in a pool rather than making contact with the metal, so it goes greasy and browns less well.

If it doesn't work

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