Dairy
Laban
Laban is the Arabic name for yoghurt and yoghurt drinks across the Levant and Gulf—ranging from thick spoon yoghurt to salted, pourable laban for meals and iftar. Texture and salt level depend on country and brand; the shared idea is cultured milk as everyday table dairy, not only dessert. Drink chilled laban with spicy food, spoon thick laban with olive oil and za’atar, or cook gently into sauces. Salted drinking laban is a savoury thirst-quencher distinct from sweet Western fruit yoghurt. Keep cold and shake drinkable cartons before pouring.
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Characteristics
Preparations
Traits
History
Arabic-speaking dairy cultures used laban as the everyday word and food for fermented milk.
Arabian and Levantine tables fixed laban beside bread, dates, and savoury dishes.
Packaged laban drinks and pots scaled with Gulf and Levantine supermarket growth.
Export laban and laban drinks followed diaspora communities into Europe and North America.