This Greek treasure is one of the more tangy-frazzled delights that are enjoyed in salads, pizzas, and Mediterranean dishes from Greece. The unique salty flavor, along with that creamy texture, makes it a must-have for all food lovers. What makes this cheese interesting is how it is made the old way. Well, my dear, this is for you! This article gets into what feta cheese is, its history, and its traditional making process. Let’s dive in!
What Is Feta Cheese?
Feta cheese is a soft, white cheese from Greece with a sharp, salty taste. Traditionally, it is made using sheep milk, except that goat milk is sometimes added for a slightly different flavor. It has a crumbly yet creamy texture and is crumbled over dishes or spread onto bread. It forms part of everyday life in Greece, pairing very well with olives and tomatoes or olive oil. The rules are strict in the EU; hence, cheese produced from these regions solely holds the name feta, making this cheese special within Mediterranean cuisine.
This brined treasure has history for thousands of years. The ancient Greeks used to keep their milk fresh long before refrigerators came into existence. Soaking the cheese in saltwater or brine kept it fresh and gave it that delicious, kicky flavor we love today. Be it in a Greek salad or warm pastry, it’s that pungent kick of flavor that draws you to each mouthful.
How Is Traditional Feta Cheese Made?
Making this Greek cheese is an art traditionally learned from generation to generation. It’s a hands-on process involving few and simple ingredients and a lot of love. Here’s a step-by-step look at how this salty delight is made, explained simply.
Step 1: Collecting Fresh Milk
Fresh milk usually comes from sheep or some mixture of sheep and goat milk. In Greece, animals graze on wild herbs and grasses, lending that milk its homey taste. The farmers usually collect fresh milk by hand just to keep it pure. This is the important pure heart of the cheese, so quality will count.
Step 2: Adding Starter Cultures
The next operation is gentle heating of the milk in a vat. Starter cultures are added to sour the milk slightly, to develop that particular tangy flavor, and an old-time rennet is folded in as a natural inhibitor to thicken the milk into soft, solid curds. It is like changing liquid composition into solid-solid—pretty cool!
Step 3: Cutting and Draining Curds
After thickening, the curds are cut into small cubes to release watery liquids termed whey. The stirred curd will become semi-firm after some time. The curds are then transferred into molds or cloth bags for further draining of whey, shaping the cheese with that crumbly texture. The whey is not wasted, as it is normally utilized for making other cheeses or as an animal feed.
Step 4: Salting and Brining
And the magic happens here. The curds are sprayed with sea salt or packed in a salty brine solution, which preserves the cheese and gives it the zest that the people love in feta. He stays in the brine for either weeks or months, depending on how strong he needs to be. It is said that the older traditional makers would use wooden barrels, somewhat poetically rustic.
Step 5: Aging for Flavor
There it goes: the cheese first sits in brine and then ages in cool, humid rooms for at least two months. This allowed development of taste, making it rich and tangy. The older it is, the bolder it gets! More parts of traditional feta are being kept in containers full of this brine to keep them sweet and ready for consumption. It is like letting the cheese rest to reach full maturity.
Why Is Traditional Feta So Unique?
Those are authentic elements and careful processes because it is traditional feta. The great difference lies in the specially flavored milk straight from Greek sheep or goats whose diet is filled with wild herbs and nostalgic methods. Unlike some of the modern cheeses prepared quickly with machines, this brined cheese takes time and love. More than anything, the brine gives it that salty zing that is hard to replicate; thus, each bite is a taste of Greek culture.
How to Enjoy This Greek Cheese
This cheese fits in a variety of dishes! Crumble it over a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives for that purely Greek touch. Toss it into pasta, drape it over a pizza, or imagine it over scrambled eggs for a little twang. You could even warm it up and melt it with some herbs and olive oil, creating a cozy dip that warms the soul. However you play with this brine gem, it pops flavor.
