Speciality cheese
Feta
Greece. Brined white cheese with a long history in Greece.
PDOFeta. EU PDO: made in defined regions of Greece from sheep's milk, or sheep's with up to 30% goat's; matured at least 2 months.
Profile
- Milk
- Sheep's milk, or sheep's with up to 30% goat's (PDO).
- Pasteurisation
- Usually pasteurised.
- Texture
- Firm-crumbly, moist, creamy.
- Flavour
- Salty, tangy, rich.
- Aroma
- Lactic, sheepy.
- Rind
- None — kept in brine.
- Typical maturation
- At least 2 months (PDO); often longer
Tasting & pairing
Taste with and without a rinse to see how much salt comes from the brine. Use the tasting wheel.
Food
- Tomato and cucumber (horiatiki)
- Olives
- Watermelon
- Spinach pie
Drinks (non-alcoholic)
- Lemon water
- Ayran
Optional, if you drink alcohol: Assyrtiko.
Storage: Refrigerate in its brine; it keeps for weeks.
How it's made
- Method
- Renneted curd is drained in moulds, cut into blocks, dry-salted and matured in brine.
- Cultures
- Lactic cultures (mesophilic/thermophilic).
- Coagulation
- Rennet
- Curd handling
- Curd ladled into moulds to drain.
- Pressing
- Drains under its own weight.
- Salting
- Dry-salted, then brined.
- Ageing
- Matured in brine.
At home: Intermediate home make
Simple to make; the brine does the ageing.
Recipes on FriendsPantry that use it
Sources
- Cheese Making Technology e-book — University of Guelph, Food Science
- Molds on Food: Are They Dangerous? — USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
- eAmbrosia — EU geographical indications register — European Commission
Guidance changes: check the source for current wording. Original text; figures quoted from the sources where stated.