Using mouth-watering halloumi, we cut the squeaky cheese into chips, crumb it in panko and black sesame seeds, before frying it to perfection to dip in either cranberry or sweet chilli sauce.
HELL’s moreish Crumbed Halloumi is made by Tauranga-based Fleur Foods, with NZ family-owned Blue Rock sourcing it for the Master.
Fleur Foods specialises in chef-inspired, food products. They already make our delicious, Crumbed Camembert but wanted to go one step further and create Crumbed Halloumi. Fleur Foods worked with Blue Rock who sourced HELL’s Halloumi from Greece’s Trikali Region from a small family-owned cheese dairy. The region has been making Halloumi for thousands of years.
Callum Davies, Founder of HELL, says it took more than a year to perfect.
“The team at Fleur Foods have been amazing to deal with, we tested their perseverance on this project, going through many different samples for over a year before landing on the perfect Crumbed Halloumi.”
“We’ve wanted halloumi on our menu for ages and it’s great to finally be able to add it to our sides options. The crunchy deep-fried panko crumbs melt in your mouth and work so well with the salty halloumi. Match it with cranberry sauce and it's a real winner,” says Callum Davies.
Karllie Dickson, CEO of Fleur Foods says it was the first time they’ve worked with halloumi.
“Sourcing the right style of halloumi was important. We needed the right amount of firmness, salt levels and a good shape for cutting into sticks. We feel lucky to be partnered with the innovative HELL Pizza gang to create this product. It’s crispy to bite into, then you get the salty, gooey, moreish cheese coming through - it’s life-changing!” says Karllie Dickson.
Demand for halloumi even saw a global shortage last year. Mark Prenter, CEO of Blue Rock, says they’ve seen an increase in sales for halloumi, particularly over the last 18 months.
“Combining the texture of mozzarella with the briny moisture of feta, halloumi is easily one of the world’s most versatile cheeses. As a family-owned company we love to partner with businesses like the family-owned cheese-dairy in Greece where they specialise in high-quality feta and halloumi,” says Mark Prenter.
HELL’s Crumbed Halloumi is made using dairy milk to suit Kiwi tastes and comes with either Cranberry or Sweet Chilli Sauce. Try it out here.