Labneh

Labneh is a strained yogurt thicker than Greek yogurt, made by straining whey from yogurt until it reaches a soft, cheese-like consistency; labneh itself is strained longer and salted, and is sometimes called yogurt cheese. Strained yogurt of this family is traditional across the Levant, West, South and Central Asia, the Middle East, the Caucasus, the Balkans and Eastern Europe, and in the Middle East labneh in particular is a common mezze dish and sandwich filling, especially in the Levant. Straining removes whey and its lactose, leaving the product lower in sugar than regular yogurt, and while traditional production is done by hand, modern industrial methods use ultrafiltration and membrane filtering. Strained yogurt drove most of the growth in the 4.1 billion dollar American yogurt market in 2012.