Milk turns to yogurt, yogurt turns to labneh. It’s the way of bacteria. As cow or goat or sheep’s milk thickens from fresh to fermented, it gets creamier, tangier and long-lastier. The glass of milk ...

I was fortunate to grow up in Istanbul, surrounded by a variety of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dips and mezzes. But no matter how elaborate our spread of mezze platters was, I always found myself ...