Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Greek feta and imitations

I just read this news article on BBC and I am happy that at last the name "" has a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status.

I guess only us greeks can tell the difference between feta made in Greece, using the traditional way, and fetas made using modern factory methods anywhere in the world. The difference in taste is huge! I definitely have missed, here in London, the good feta taste I find in Greece. I tried quite a few imitations and also factory fetas from Greece and they are all very far away from the real taste.

In Achaia, the perfecture of Greece that I come from, feta is a cheese made traditionally in many farms, and many supermarkets sell this local product which has superior quality!

One thing that everyone has to know about feta is that the harder it is the more healthy it is. If feta cheese is soft then it is not ready yet! It also has a lot of microorganisms that might be harmful for the health of some people. So, if you buy feta, always choose the harder one! Most of the factory made feta cheeses I tried are soft, which of course drives to the conclusion of diminishing the quality in order to have bigger production.

So for feta, the harder it is the better it is ;)