I’m a little obsessed with ethnic markets. I’m completely in love with the Lebanese Butcher, attached to the Mount of Lebanon restaurant in Falls Church. This is where I buy preserved lemons, olives in bulk, and canned favas. Buy a whole leg of lamb and have them bone it out for you — lots of meat for kabobs and stew, and even a couple of nice roasts for Sunday dinner. They have these coconut cookies up at the cash register that are INSANE (the CGP likes them better than my macaroons!). But there are a couple of MUST HAVE products I want to promote today.

They sell this olive-infused Egyptian Feta that is unlike ANYTHING I’ve tasted before. Let’s start with some nomenclature first. In the EU, “feta” refers to a very specific kind of cheese, made in defined ratios from the milk of specific animals (sheep or sheep/goat), made in a very specific geography (Greece), in a very specific traditional way. That’s the grainy, salty, crumbly cheese you think of when you think of feta. Elsewhere, outside the EU, feta frequently just means “white cheese.” So when I bought a box of this, I thought I was getting the crumbly stuff with bits of olives. OH NO NO NO … I opened the box to find this amazingly soft and lush creamy spread that tasted like oil-cured kalamata olives. Imagine the best cream cheese schmear you’ve ever had, but 100 times creamier and 100 times more infused flavor. I smear it on crackers. I smear it on flatbread with kabob or grilled sausage. I want to smear it on an everything bagel but I keep forgetting to buy them. I don’t remember the price — $3.99? $4.99? Something low enough that I didn’t flinch the first time and don’t even care now. If you love cheese and love olives — this will become your new addiction. Made with buffalo and cow’s milk. I swear it’s the buffalo milk that gives it the texture. The nice butcher at the back says he eats this every day for breakfast.

So on to another find — labna. It’s essentially yogurt cheese — kind of like greek yogurt strained even further. The texture is similar to cream cheese, but the taste is tangier. At $1.99 for a one pound tub, it’s a steal. I can’t strain my own yogurt for that price! You know what I like to eat it with — DATES. I can get a huge tub of dates for $4.99. I haven’t seen dates at that price ANYWHERE in town. These are wonderful to eat out of hand or to use in baking.

Standard caveat: This is a personal recommendation. I have been provided neither product nor compensation for this endorsement.