Francais | English | Espanõl

Feta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Feta cheese)

Jump to: navigation, search

Feta

Image:Feta Greece 2.jpg

Country of origin

Greece

Region, town

N/A

Source of milk

Goat, sheep or cow

Pasteurized

Depends on variety

Texture

Depends on variety

Aging time

min. 3 months

Certification

PDO, 2002

For other meanings of feta or FETA see FETA (disambiguation)

Feta (Greek φέτα) is a curd cheese in brine. It is traditionally made exclusively from goat's and sheep's milk, but cow's milk varieties are also made in some areas.

It is salted and cured in a brine solution (which can be either water or whey) for three to 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. Its fat content can range from 30 to 60 percent; most is around 45 percent milk fat.

Traditional Greek feta cheese is made from sheep's milk, or a mixture of sheep and goats' milk. The cheese is made in blocks which are salted, sliced (hence the name 'feta', meaning slice) and then salted again, before being left for about a month to mature.

Apart from Greece, similar varieties are also widely spread in Albania (djath), Bulgaria (sirene, сирене), FYROM, Serbia, Turkey (beyaz peynir, i.e. white cheese), Romania (brânză telemea), Russian (brynza, брынза), Ukraine (brynza, бринза), Iran (panir iräni), and other countries.

After a long legal battle with Denmark, who was producing white cheese with the same name, feta cheese is now covered by a protected designation of origin (PDO), which denies any other country the usage of the term "feta". It is one of the ingredients of Greek salad. Feta, like most cheeses, can also be served cooked; it is sometimes grilled as part of a sandwich or fried as part of the saganaki side-dish.

1 History
2 See also
3 Bibliography
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Feta cheese is first recorded in Byzantine times, under the name πρόσφατος, and was associated specifically with Crete. An Italian visitor to Candia in 1494 describes its storage in brine clearly.<ref>Dalby, 1996, p. 190</ref>

The name 'feta' comes from the Italian fetta (slice), and dates back to the 17th century, likely referring to the method of cutting the cheese in thin slices to serve on 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.