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Feta ( el, φέτα, ) is a Greek
brined In food processing, brining is treating food with brine or coarse salt which preserves and seasons the food while enhancing tenderness and flavor with additions such as herbs, spices, sugar, caramel or vinegar. Meat and fish are typically brined ...
white
cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
made from
sheep's milk Sheep's milk (or ewes' milk) is the milk of domestic sheep. It is commonly used to make cultured dairy products such as cheese. Some of the most popular sheep cheeses include feta (Greece), ricotta (Italy), and Roquefort (France). Sheep breeds S ...
or from a mixture of sheep and
goat's milk Goat milk is the milk of domestic goats. Goats produce about 2% of the world's total annual milk supply. Some goats are bred specifically for milk. Goat milk naturally has small, well-emulsified fat globules, which means the cream will stay in ...
. It is soft, with small or no holes, a compact touch, few cuts, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is formed into large blocks and
aged Ageing ( BE) or aging ( AE) is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In a ...
in brine. Its flavor is tangy and salty, ranging from mild to sharp. Feta is used as a table cheese, in salads such as Greek salad, and in pastries, notably the phyllo-based Greek dishes '' spanakopita'' "spinach pie" and '' tyropita'' "cheese pie". It is often served with olive oil or olives, and sprinkled with aromatic herbs such as
oregano Oregano (, ; ''Origanum vulgare'') is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It was native to the Mediterranean region, but widely naturalised elsewhere in the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Oregano is a woody perennial pla ...
. It can also be served cooked (often grilled), as part of a sandwich, in omelettes, and many other dishes. Since 2002, feta has been a
protected designation of origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...
in the European Union.
EU legislation European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...
and similar legislation in 25 other countries limits the name ''feta'' to cheeses produced in the traditional way in mainland Greece and Lesbos Prefecture, which are made from sheep's milk, or from a mixture of sheep's and up to 30% of goat's milk from the same area. Similar white brined cheeses are made traditionally in the Balkans, around the Black Sea, in West Asia, and more recently elsewhere. Outside the EU, the name ''feta'' is often used generically for these cheeses.


Generic term and production outside Greece

For many consumers, the word "feta" is a generic term for a white, crumbly cheese aged in brine. Production of the cheese first began in the Eastern Mediterranean and around the Black Sea. Over time, production expanded to countries including Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, often partly or wholly of cow's milk, and they are (or were) sometimes also called ''feta''.


Geographical Indication

Since 2002, feta has been a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) product within the European Union. According to the relevant EU legislation (applicable within the EU and Northern Ireland), as well as similar UK legislation only those cheeses produced in a traditional way in particular areas of Greece, which are made from sheep's milk, or from a mixture of sheep's and up to 30% of goat's milk from the same area, can be called feta. Also in several other countries the term feta has since been protected. An overview is shown in the table below.


Description

The EU PDO for feta requires a maximum moisture of 56%, a minimum fat content in dry matter of 43%, and a pH that usually ranges from 4.4 to 4.6. Production of the EU PDO feta is traditionally categorized into firm and soft varieties. The firm variety is tangier and considered higher in quality. The soft variety is almost soft enough to be spreadable, mostly used in pies and sold at a cheaper price. Slicing feta produces some amount of ''trímma'', "crumble", which is also used for pies (not being sellable, ''trímma'' is usually given away for free upon request). High-quality feta should have a creamy texture when sampled, and aromas of ewe's milk, butter, and yoghurt. In the mouth it is tangy, slightly salty, and mildly sour, with a spicy finish that recalls
pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...
and
ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...
, as well as a hint of sweetness. According to the specification of the Geographical Indication, the biodiversity of the land coupled with the special breeds of sheep and goats used for milk is what gives feta cheese a specific aroma and flavor.


Production

Traditionally (and legally within the EU and other territories where it is protected), feta is produced using only whole sheep's milk, or a blend of sheep's and goat's milk (with a maximum of 30% goat's milk). The milk may be pasteurized or not, but most producers now use pasteurized milk. If pasteurized milk is used, a starter culture of micro-organisms is added to replace those naturally present in raw milk which are killed in pasteurization. These organisms are required for acidity and flavour development. When the pasteurized milk has cooled to approximately ,.
rennet Rennet () is a complex set of enzymes produced in the stomachs of ruminant mammals. Chymosin, its key component, is a protease enzyme that curdles the casein in milk. In addition to chymosin, rennet contains other enzymes, such as pepsin and a ...
is added and the casein is left to coagulate. The compacted curds are then chopped up and placed in a special mould or a cloth bag that allows the whey to drain. After several hours, the curd is firm enough to cut up and salt; salinity will eventually reach approximately 3%, when the salted curds are placed (depending on the producer and the area of Greece) in metal vessels or wooden barrels and allowed to infuse for several days. After the dry-salting of the cheese is complete, aging or maturation in
brine Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for br ...
(a 7% salt in water solution) takes several weeks at room temperature and a further minimum of 2 months in a refrigerated high-humidity environment—as before, either in wooden barrels or metal vessels, depending on the producer (the more traditional barrel aging is said to impart a unique flavour). The containers are then shipped to supermarkets where the cheese is cut and sold directly from the container; alternatively blocks of standardized weight are packaged in sealed plastic cups with some brine. Feta dries relatively quickly even when refrigerated; if stored for longer than a week, it should be kept in brine or lightly salted milk.


History

Cheese made from sheep and goat milk has been common in the
Eastern Mediterranean Eastern Mediterranean is a loose definition of the eastern approximate half, or third, of the Mediterranean Sea, often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea. It typically embraces all of that sea's coastal zones, referring to communi ...
since ancient times.. In Bronze Age Canaan, cheese was perhaps among the salted foods shipped by sea in ceramic jars and so rennet-coagulated white cheeses similar to feta may have been shipped in brine, but there is no direct evidence for this. In Greece, the earliest documented reference to cheese production dates back to the 8th century BC and the technology used to make cheese from sheep-goat milk is similar to the technology used by Greek shepherds today to produce feta... In the '' Odyssey'', Homer describes how Polyphemus makes cheese and dry-stores it in wicker racks, though he says nothing about brining, resulting perhaps, according to Paul S. Kindstedt, in a rinded cheese similar to modern pecorino and
caprino Caprino may refer to: * Caprino cheese, a type of Italian goat cheeses In places: * Caprino Bergamasco, a municipality in the Italian region of Lombardy * Caprino Veronese, a municipality in the Italian region Veneto * Caprino, Switzerland, a quar ...
rather than feta. On the other hand, E. M. Antifantakis and G. Moatsou state that Polyphemus' cheese was "undoubtedly the ancestor of modern Feta".. Origins aside, cheese produced from sheep-goat milk was a common food in ancient Greece and an integral component of later Greek gastronomy. The first unambiguous documentation of preserving cheese in brine appears in Cato the Elder's '' De Agri Cultura'' (2nd century BCE) though the practice was surely much older.. It is also described in the 10th-century ''
Geoponica The ''Geoponica'' or ''Geoponika'' ( el, Γεωπονικά) is a twenty-book collection of agricultural lore, compiled during the 10th century in Constantinople for the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. The Greek word ''Geoponic ...
''. Feta cheese, specifically, is recorded by
Psellos Michael Psellos or Psellus ( grc-gre, Μιχαὴλ Ψελλός, Michaḗl Psellós, ) was a Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to hav ...
in the 11th century under the name ''prósphatos'' (Greek πρόσφατος 'recent, fresh'), and was produced by Cretans. In the late 15th century, an Italian visitor to Candia, Pietro Casola, describes the marketing of feta, as well as its storage in brine.. Feta cheese, along with milk and
sheep meat Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...
, is the principal source of income for shepherds in northwestern Greece. The Greek word ''feta'' (φέτα) comes from the Italian ''fetta'' 'slice', which in turn is derived from the Latin ''offa'' 'morsel, piece'. The word ''feta'' became widespread as a name for the cheese only in the 19th century, probably referring to the cheese being cut to pack it in barrels..


Effect of Certification as a Geographical Indication

Prior to Greece's pursuit of a PDO for its feta, there was long-standing production out of Greece in three member states: Germany, Denmark and France, and in certain countries (e.g. Denmark) feta was perceived as a generic term, while it was perceived as a designation of origin in others (e.g. Greece), with the centre of production and consumption taking place in Greece. Greece first requested the registration of Feta as a designation of origin in the EU in 1994, which was approved in 1996 by commission regulation (EC) No 1107/96 The decision was appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) by Denmark, France and Germany, which annulled the decision as the Commission did not evaluate sufficiently whether or not Feta had become a generic term. After that decision, the European Commission reevaluated registering Feta as a PDO, taking into account production in other EU countries and re-registered feta as a PDO in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1829/2002. This decision was appealed again at CJEU by Denmark and Germany. In 2005, the CJEU upheld the Commission Regulation. It indicated that indeed the term was generic in some EU countries and that production also took place outside Greece, but that on the other hand the geographical region in Greece was well defined and that even non-Greek producers often appealed to the status of Feta as a Greek product through the choice of packaging. The European Commission gave other nations five years to find a new name for their feta cheese or stop production. Because of the decision by the European Union, Danish dairy company Arla Foods changed the name of its white cheese products to ''Apetina'', which is also the name of an Arla food brand established in 1991. When needed to describe an imitation feta, names such as "salad cheese" and "Greek-style cheese" are used. The EU included Feta in several
Associations Agreements A European Union Association Agreement or simply Association Agreement (AA) is a treaty between the European Union (EU), its Member States and a non-EU country that creates a framework for co-operation between them. Areas frequently covered by s ...
,
Free Trade Agreements A free-trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating states. There are two types of trade agreements: bilateral and multilateral. Bilateral trade agreements occur ...
and agreements on the recognition of Geographical Indications, which led to the expansion of protection of the term Feta. Exporters from the EU to foreign markets outside the territories covered by these agreements, are not subject to the European Commission rules. As such, the non-Greek EU cheese sold abroad is often labeled as feta. In 2013, an agreement was reached with Canada ( CETA) in which Canadian feta manufacturers retained their rights to continue producing feta while new entrants to the market would label the product "feta-style/type cheese". In other markets such as the United States,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, New Zealand and elsewhere, full generic usage of the term "feta" continues. Some cheeses from the EU were renamed. In 2007, the British cheese Yorkshire Feta was renamed to
Fine Fettle Yorkshire Fine Fettle Yorkshire (formerly Yorkshire Feta) is a British cheese made from the milk of sheep produced in North Yorkshire by Shepherds Purse Cheeses. The owner, Judy Bell, was forced to change the cheese's name after an EU ruling meant tha ...
.


Nutrition

Like many dairy products, feta has significant amounts of calcium and phosphorus; however, feta is higher in water and thus lower in fat and calories than
aged cheeses Cheese ripening, alternatively cheese maturation or affinage, is a process in cheesemaking. It is responsible for the distinct flavour of cheese, and through the modification of "''ripening agents''", determines the features that define many di ...
like Parmigiano-Reggiano or Cheddar. The cheese may contain beneficial probiotics. Feta, as a sheep dairy product, contains up to 1.9% conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is about 0.8% of its fat content. Feta cheese is very high in salt, at over 400 mg sodium per 100 calories.


Similar cheeses

Similar cheeses can be found in other countries, such as: * Albania (''djathë i bardhë'' or ''djathë i Gjirokastrës'') * Armenia (''Չանախ'' chanakh - cheese made in a ''chan'', a type of crock) * Azerbaijan (''ağ pendir'', ) *
Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
(Travnički/ Vlašićki sir, lit. "cheese from Vlašić/ Travnik") * Bulgaria (бяло сирене, , lit. "white cheese") * Canada (''feta style cheese'', or simply ''feta'' for those companies producing the cheese prior to October 2013) * Czech Republic (''balkánský sýr'', lit. "Balkan cheese") * Egypt ('' domiati'') * Finland (salaattijuusto, "salad cheese") * Georgia (ყველი, ''kveli'', lit. "cheese") * Germany (''Schafskäse'', "sheep cheese") * Hungary (''juhturo'') * Iran ( Lighvan cheese; ''panīr-e līghvān'') * Israel (''gvina bulgarit'', lit. "Bulgarian cheese") * Italy (''casu 'e fitta'' Sardinia) * Lebanon (, lit. "Bulgarian cheese") * North Macedonia (сирење, ''
sirenje Sirene ( sq, djathë i bardhë; bg, сирене ; mk, сирење; sr, сир, italics=no/) also known as "white brine sirene" ( bg, бяло саламурено сирене, links=no) is a type of brined cheese made in the Balkans (So ...
'') *
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
and Jordan (
Nabulsi cheese Nabulsi (or naboulsi) is one of a number of Palestinian white brined cheeses made in the Middle East. Its name refers to its place of origin, Nablus, and it is well known throughout the West Bank and surrounding regions. Nabulsi, along with Akk ...
; , and '' Akkawi''; ) * Romania (''
brânză telemea Telemea () is the name of a Romanian cheese traditionally made of sheep's milk.About Telemea
at cheese.com
'') * Russia (брынза, '' brynza'') * Serbia (сир, '' sir'' as a common name; сирење, ''
sirenje Sirene ( sq, djathë i bardhë; bg, сирене ; mk, сирење; sr, сир, italics=no/) also known as "white brine sirene" ( bg, бяло саламурено сирене, links=no) is a type of brined cheese made in the Balkans (So ...
'' in South, including Kosovo Serb; and ''brinza'' in north and east Serbia within Slovak and Aromanian populations) * Slovakia (''
bryndza Bryndza (from Romanian ''brânză'' cheese) is a sheep milk cheese made across much of East-Central Europe, primarily in or around the Carpathian Mountains of Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania and southern Poland. Bryndza cheese is creamy white in app ...
'' and ''Balkánsky syr'', lit. "Balkan cheese") * Spain (''Queso de Burgos'', lit. "Burgos cheese") *
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
(''
gibna beyda Domiati cheese, also referred to as white cheese ( arz, جبنة بيضا '  ), is a soft white salty cheese made primarily in Egypt, but also in Sudan and other Middle Eastern countries. Typically made from buffalo milk, cow milk, or a ...
'', lit. "white cheese") * Turkey ('' beyaz peynir'', lit. "white cheese") * Ukraine (бринза, '' brynza'') * United Kingdom (''Salad cheese'')


See also

* *


Citations


General and cited references

* * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

*


External links


International Feta Day
{{Authority control Cheeses with designation of origin protected in the European Union Greek cheeses Greek products with protected designation of origin Goat's-milk cheeses Mixed-milk cheeses Sheep's-milk cheeses