Feta
Feta is effectively a pickled cheese. It is dry-salted first and then ripened submerged in brine, and that combination of salt and sheep-milk fat makes it the most assertive cheese in the fresh category. The specification is unusually prescriptive: it fixes not only the seven producing regions and the milk blend, but the breeds, their diet, a two-month minimum in brine, and a ban on additives and colouring. The wider market has not respected any of it — the word has been applied to almost any white brined cheese, frequently cow-milk and frequently pre-crumbled, and the gap in quality is substantial. Sheep milk supplies the weight and richness that hold the salt in balance; lean cow-milk versions lose that balance entirely. Goat-milk versions from small producers can be excellent in a leaner, more lemony register.
Aging Time
2 months – 6 months
Recipes
1
- Style
- Soft
- Milk
- Sheep
- Origin
- Greece · 7 regions
- Ripening
- ≥ 2 months
- Recipes
- 1 in library
Tasting Board
| Salt | 5 of 5 |
|---|---|
| Tang | 4 of 5 |
| Richness | 3 of 5 |
| Creaminess | 2 of 5 |
| Crumble | 4 of 5 |
Texture
Moist and crumbly at the break, turning creamy under the tooth.
Flavor
Tangy and lemony over rich milk, with sea-salt intensity from the brine.
Aroma
Clean and saline.
History & Origins
Brined white cheese has been made in Greece for a very long time. The EU register formalised the name, the permitted composition and the geographic limits in 2002, after an extended dispute with producers elsewhere in Europe who had been using the name.
Cultural Significance
In Greece it turns up at every meal rather than being confined to a cheese course, and it remains among the most heavily imitated cheese names in the world.
PDO — What the Designation Requires
EU PDO under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2002 (eAmbrosia EUGI00000013179). Production and maturation are confined to Thrace, Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly, Central Greece, the Peloponnese and the Prefecture of Lesbos. The milk must be sheep, or sheep blended with no more than 30% goat, from breeds traditionally reared in those areas and fed on the local flora. Minimum maturation is two months in brine, and the specification prohibits antibiotics, preservatives, additives and colouring.
Pairing & Serving
What to Pair It With
Tomatoes, cucumber, olives, oregano, olive oil, and watermelon.
How to Serve It
Serve in generous chunks rather than crumbs, at room temperature. Keep it in its brine — plain water will not substitute. If the brine is lost, a workable replacement is about three tablespoons of kosher salt dissolved in a cup of warm water, cooled before the cheese goes back in.
Nutrition (per 100g)
| Calories | kcal |
| Protein | g |
| Total Fat | g |
| Saturated Fat | g |
| Sodium | mg |
| Calcium | mg |
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