Is Greek Feta Better?
Greek Feta
Feta, just like products such as Champagne and Prosciutto di Parma, is a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) product. That means the name Feta is protected by the European Union. Although many countries produce cheese that is labeled and sold as Feta in the United States, only European PDO Feta has the official PDO label. The PDO system allows the European Union to protect local agricultural and livestock products, as well as traditional recipes.
While PDO Feta comes from Greece, not all white brined cheese from Greece can be called Feta. PDO Feta, a cheese that is traditionally produced in Greece from sheep’s milk, or a mixture of sheep and up to 30% goat’s milk, is only produced in Macedonia, Thrace, Epirus, Sterea Ellada, Thessaly, Peloponnesus and the islands of Lesvos, Limnos and Agios Efstratios. But is it better than any other Feta cheese? Here are some reasons to believe it might be.
Greek Feta in a barrel being aged
Origins & Cheesemaking
Everyone probably knows that Feta originated in Greece. In fact, according to some researchers, Feta dates back 8,000 years ago and some of the first references to it were in Homer's Odyssey, where Polyphemus the Cyclops made sheep's milk cheese that was aged in racks. To make Feta, curds are formed, strained, dry salted using coarse-grained salt before it goes into the brine, then aged in wooden barrels or tins with brine for at least 15 days and generally two months. The dry salting allows for bacteria to grow that is crucial in the development of flavor. Today, the production methods used to make Feta remain the same as ever, the main differences being the ways in which the milk is collected and transported to the dairies, the automation and packaging methods.
Milk
The milk in PDO Feta comes from sheep and goat breeds that graze freely in specific geographical areas in Greece, which have rich biodiversity, thousands of wild herbs and plants, rocky soils and dry weather conditions. If you’ve ever been to Greece, or tasted Greek oregano you undoubtedly noticed how pungent it is and a diet of pungent herbs means flavorful milk and cheese. While the arid Mediterranean conditions are challenging for cows, they are well suited to the grazing of sheep and goats. No powdered milk, colorants or preservatives are used for the production of PDO Feta. And the milk must come from local sheep (and sometimes goats) which are fed of local flora in areas where no fertilizers and insecticides are used. It can be pasteurized but it is not required to be.
Maturation
The milk, in combination with the production and maturation process that must last for at least 2 months, give PDO Feta a distinctive taste, rich aromas, white color and a consistent but wonderfully soft texture that crumbles easily but can also be cut into blocks and is both creamy and tangy. In contrast, cow’s milk Feta has a tendency to be dry and chalky.
Today only about 2% of what is currently consumed as ‘Feta’ corresponds to the authentic European PDO Feta. While non PDO white brine cheeses labeled as Feta are common, they often lack the balance and complexity of PDO Feta. If you’re not a fan of Feta, it’s quite possible you’ve not been eating the real thing.
Some brands to try:
This is a very popular brand with Greeks and is available in Costco, it offers particuarly good value
This brand offers both barrel aged and organic versions and is aged longer yielding a stronger flavor, often available at Whole Foods
Another high quality brand with sheep, sheep and goat’s milk, barrel aged and organic versions, from Greece’s first organic dairy