Thessaloniki · Macedonia · Greece · No. 02 of 05 · 7 min read

Feta — real, fake, and what to look for

Feta is a Greek cheese. This is a legal fact, not a national preference. Only cheese produced in mainland Greece and Lesbos from sheep's milk under the traditional method can legally be called feta in the EU.

By Sofia Manolakis · Thessaloniki, Greece · Issue 47, Feature 02

I. What genuine feta is

Greek feta is produced from sheep's milk (and sometimes a proportion of goats) that graze on the herbs, grasses, and wildflowers of each region. The milk's flavour reflects what the animals eat. Texture varies by region — Macedonian creamier, Epirus crumblier, Thessaly somewhere between.

The cheese is curdled with rennet, cut, pressed, salted, aged in brine for a minimum of two months. The brine is essential to the character: it preserves the cheese and develops the flavour.

II. What to look for on the label

In a PDO market: «Protected Designation of Origin» on the label, the EU PDO logo, Greek country of origin, sheep's milk listed, packed in brine.

In a non-PDO market: look for Greek-produced specifically. Bulgarian and Danish white brined cheeses are different products. They are not feta.

Buy the block. Crumble it yourself.

III. How the flavour differs

Danish white cheese: milder, creamier, less salty, clean dairy flavour, little complexity. Greek Macedonian feta: saltier, tangier, slight sheepiness, herbal complexity, more assertive. Not interchangeable in any recipe where feta is a primary flavour.

IV. How to store it

Keep feta in brine. If running low, make a replacement: one teaspoon salt per cup of water. Always submerged. Cold but not frozen. The block form is preferable to pre-crumbled — pre-crumbled has begun to dry.

Recipe — Baked Feta with Honey and Walnuts

Sofia Manolakis · Thessaloniki · serves 4 · 15 minutes

Serves 4
200°C
10 min bake
200 g feta block

Ingredients

200 g block of Greek feta in brine
3 tbsp good honey (thyme honey)
2 tbsp roughly chopped walnuts
½ tsp dried Greek oregano
Pinch red pepper flakes
Extra virgin olive oil
Warm bread to serve

The method

Remove feta from brine. Pat dry. Place in a small oven-safe dish.
Drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 10 minutes until edges soften and surface colours.
Remove from oven. Drizzle immediately with honey.
Scatter walnuts, oregano, pepper flakes.
Serve immediately with warm bread.

About the contributor

Sofia Manolakis

Sofia Manolakis writes about Greek feta and dairy traditions from Thessaloniki, Greece. She buys her feta in blocks from the deli counter at the Modiano market, never pre-crumbled.

Editor’s notes — the longer view

A note on «feta-style». The phrase means the producer cannot legally call it feta — it is a different product from different milk by a different method. Treat it as its own thing.

A note on the brine. Save it after the block is finished. Use in salad dressings, bread doughs, to brine olives. Not waste.

A note on barrel-aged. «Feta barelisia» — aged in wood — is the premium category, more complex than tin-aged. Worth the small premium.

A note on pairing. Watermelon in summer. Honey and walnuts in winter. Fig anytime. The pairings work when they pit salt-and-tang against something sweet or fatty.

Back to American · Cook lane · HowTo: Food Edition home · American cuisine hub