Graviera ( el, γραβιέρα ) is a cheese from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

produced in various parts of Greece, the main of which are:

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Anatolia, Asia Minor ...

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best abr ...

and

Amfilochia Amfilochia ( el, Αμφιλοχία) is a town and a municipality in the northwestern part of Aetolia-Acarnania in Greece, on the site of ancient Amfilochia. Under the Ottoman Empire, it was known as Karvasaras (Καρβασαράς; from '' cara ...

. It resembles gruyère, a Swiss cheese from whose name "graviera" is derived. Graviera is Greece's second most popular cheese after

feta Feta ( el, φέτα, ) is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep's milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat's milk. It is soft, with small or no holes, a compact touch, few cuts, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is ...

. Made in wheels, the rind of the hard cheese is marked with the characteristic crisscross pattern of its draining cloth. There are various types of Graviera produced in Greece. Graviera of Crete is made from sheep's milk and ripened for at least five months. It is slightly sweet, with a pleasant burnt caramel flavor. The graviera of Naxos, in contrast, is mostly made of cow's milk (80–100%). Graviera can be sliced and eaten, fried as

saganaki In Greek cuisine, saganaki (Greek σαγανάκι) is any one of a variety of dishes prepared in a small frying pan, the best-known being an appetizer of fried cheese. It is commonly flambéed in North America. Etymology The dishes are named ...

and eaten as a snack, grated and served over pasta dishes, baked in a casserole or used in salads (in cubes or shavings). It is widely available outside Greece, where it can be purchased at large grocery stores, Greek or ethnic markets, and specialty cheese shops, as well as online. Gruyère can be used as a substitute, but graviera is homier.Hoffman, Susanna. 2004. ''The Olive and the Caper; Adventures in Greek Cooking.'' Workman Publishing. . p. 28.

References

{{Cuisine of Greece Greek cheeses Sheep's-milk cheeses Mixed-milk cheeses Greek products with protected designation of origin Cheeses with designation of origin protected in the European Union

See also

References