Feta: By far, the most popular and the most ancient of the Greek Cheeses. It is the traditional cheese of Greece. It is used in salads (greek salad – horiatiki), baked in pies, crumbled on omelettes or even stuffed into fish. Probably the most favorite way to eat feta is to lay a thick slab on a plate, pour some olive oil and a pinch of oregano on top.

Feta Cheese

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One of the oldest cheeses in the world is feta cheese, which is considered a genuine Greek product. More precisely, since 14 October 2002, feta cheese is officially recognized as a Greek only, cheese. Feta is a soft cheese, produced by sheep milk or a blend of sheep and goat milk up to a proportion of 70:30 %. It is white colored, pleasant in flavor, lightly sour and rich in aroma. It is formed in squares. Although it is considered a soft cheese, it is also produced with a semi hard texture. Due to its greater humidity content, soft feta is sweeter, less salty, rich in aroma and less spicy, while semi-hard feta is saltier and spicier, having a stronger taste and aroma. Feta goes through a two month maturation at least, this being the period of development of all its organoleptic and qualitative characteristics, which make the difference from other soft cheeses of the same category. It is stored in barrels of brine. Most feta comes from mountainous areas. Greeks eat feta in different ways.

Feta usage in Greek cooking

Feta goes crumbled over salads, like in the Greek Salad it is also eaten plain with olive oil and oregano. Finally, is also the cheese more commonly used to fill pies (check pie recipes).

Haloumi: Made in Cyprus, this cheese is very much like riccota and soft mitzithra in texture and in colour.

Telemes: Is a variation of Feta cheese. The difference is that it is made from cow’s milk.

Kaseri: This is a mild – sharp tasting cheese (depending on variety). It is faint yellow in color, oily in texture and usually eaten on it’s own. It is made from sheep’s milk. It is good as a table cheese.

Mizithra (Mitzithra):It is made from sheep’s or goat’s milk and comes in two forms. The fresh, ricotta-lke Mizithra is unsalted. The dried version is salted, aged until hard and is good for grating and cooking. Like Ricotta and cottage cheese, Mizithra is more often used for sweet pies.

Anthotiro: A variation of Mizithra. It is buttery in texture It comes in to variations, soft and dry, like Mizithra.

Kefalotiri: This Traditional Greek cheese is very hard in texture. It is made with a combination of sheep and goat’s milk. Salty and sharp tasting, it’s similar to Regato and Parmesan and is used for grating over spaghetti. Primarily is used for frying. It is ripened for at least three months and so acquires a sharp aroma and a rich salty, tangy taste.

Kefalograviera: A cross between Kefalotiri and Graviera, this cheese is made from cow’s milk. It’s a hard cheese, pale yellow in color with a sharp taste and smell. Used as a table cheese, for grating or frying.

Graviera: Hard in texture, mild in taste, this cheese resembles Swiss or Gruyere in texture. It is served with meals or used for grating over spaghetti.

Manouri: Like Mizithra, Ricotta and Cottage cheese, Manouri is soft in texture and unsalted. It is made from full fat sheep’s milk and is mainly used for sweet pies. In Athens and the islands manouri is the name of soft cream cheese.

Touloumotiri:It is a moist, snow-white cheese. It is sweeter and stored by hanging in goatskin or sheepskin bags.

Kapnisto Metsovone:One of the few smoked cheeses of Greece. It is made from cow’s milk, but sometimes with the addition of a little sheep’s or goat’s milk.

Ladotyri:This is sheep’s and goat’s milk cheese. It is made in the shape of small spheres and so is sometimes called kefalaki (little head). Its proper name refers to olive oil, in which it is aged. It can spend as much as a year in this state and emerge richer and tastier to the point of decadence.

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