Ingredient: Feta
Category: Dairy- Cheese
Season: All
In Greek cuisine, Feta (Greek: φέτα ) is a curdcheese in brine.
It is traditionally made from goat's and/or sheep's milk although cow's milk may be substituted. It is an aged cheese, commonly produced in blocks, and has a slightly grainy texture.
It is used as a table cheese, as well as in salads, pastries and in baking (although still edible on its own).
It is used on Bruschetta, an Italian appetizer.
It is used in the popular Greek phyllo-based dishes spanakopita ("spinach pie") and tyropita ("cheese pie").
Feta is a popular cheese world-wide. Similar cheeses are found in the countries which surround Greece.
Feta production:
Feta is salted and cured in a brine solution (which can be either water or whey) for several months.
Feta dries out rapidly when removed from the brine.
Feta cheese is white, usually formed into square cakes, and can range from soft to semi-hard, with a tangy, salty flavor that can range from mild to sharp.
The cured cheese easily crumbles apart. Its fat content can range from 30 to 60 percent; most is around 45 percent milk fat. Most feta cheese has a pH of 4.4 to 4.9.
Uses
Feta is also an important ingredient of Greek salad, usually sliced into small cubic pieces.
Feta, like most cheeses, can also be served cooked; it is sometimes grilled as part of a sandwich or as a salty alternative to other cheeses in a variety of dishes.
The Greek word "feta" comes from the Italian word fetta ("slice") and that from Latin offa "bite, morsel".
It was introduced in Greek in the 17th century, likely referring to the method of cutting the cheese in thin slices to serve on a plate.
Traditionally, feta has been made by peasants in the lower Balkan peninsula from sheep's milk, although goat's milk, and (to the dismay of some) cow's milk has been used in more recent times.
It is also used for banitsa (also transliterated as banica and banitza), a traditional Bulgarian pastry.
Certification
After a long legal battle with Denmark, which produced a similar cheese under the same name, but used artificially blanched cow's milk, the term "feta" is now a protected designation of origin (PDO), which limits the term within the European Union to Greek feta.
When needed to describe a feta-like cheese that isn't Greek feta, names such as "salad cheese" and "Greek-style cheese" are used.
Similar cheeses around the world
Similar cheeses are common in Albania (djath), Bulgaria ( sirene сирене), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (бело сирење, belo sirenje; white cheese), Serbia ( sir сир), Israel, Turkey (beyaz peynir 'white cheese'), Egypt, and Sudan (gibna bayda), Romania (brânză telemea), Russia (brynza, брынза), Ukraine (brynza, бринза), Iran (panir liqvan), Malta (Ġbejna tan- nagħaġ) , and other countries.
In some of these countries, the name "feta" is used interchangeably with the native, while in others "feta" is not used at all or refers to other (mainly imported) types of cheese
Feta is a quite unique and distinctive cheese. It has recently been registered in the EU as a product of controlled origin, which means that true feta is made in Greece from 85 per cent goats' milk and 15 per cent ewes’ milk.
It develops its special flavour by being kept in salted brine.This gives it a salty flavour with slightly sour undertones.
Its colour is brilliant white and it falls somewhere between a hard and soft cheese because, although it looks firm, it is in fact very crumbly, so there’s no need to grate it – all you do is crumble it between your fingers.
It is delightful sprinkled on to a Greek salad made with ridge cucumbers, ripe tomatoes, olives and Greek olive oil.
It’s also marvellous as a dip whizzed together in a blender with some ripe avocado.
The French are now making a version of feta and this has a milder, fresher flavour than the Greek and Cypriot versions and well worth trying as a variation
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