Feta cheese is a national Greek product, known since ancient times. Real feta is made from sheep's milk and kept in brine. Therefore, when choosing cheese, you need to pay attention to the composition and storage method.
The history of feta cheese began in ancient times, in Ancient Greece. Today cheese made from sheep's milk is extremely popular in the Mediterranean and is used to prepare many dishes, including the famous Greek salad.
What are the characteristics of cheese?
Feta cheese has a crumbly structure, a curd smell and is colored white with a light cream shade. Outwardly, it looks like a piece of compressed curd mass with a rather dense consistency. It can be broken off, but it cannot be spread on a piece of bread.
Feta is a national product of Greece, which is mentioned in Homer's poem "The Odyssey". Feta has a milky salty flavor with a slightly sour taste.
Feta is stored in brine, in the form of small cubes. Most often it comes on sale in rectangular packages made of hard plastic. To enjoy the natural taste of the product, you need to know how to choose the right feta cheese.
What qualities should you pay attention to?
Of course, real feta cheese, prepared according to tradition, can only be purchased in Greece. However, even there the product has undergone significant changes and is presented in a wide range, strikingly different from the classic version.
Real feta cheese has a dense consistency and many small holes formed by air bubbles. When cutting, the product does not crumble, but breaks into large pieces.
When purchasing cheese, you need to pay attention to the quality of the brine. It must remain transparent and non-sticky. Sheep's milk must be present as a raw material. It is allowed to include up to 30% goat milk. If feta cheese has acquired a dark hue, it means that it has been stored without brine for a long time.
Depending on the consistency and fat content, feta is soft, medium and quite dense. Soft and medium-sized cheeses are used to make various pies. The dense cheese is used in salads.
Fat content of feta cheese varies between 30-60%. Therefore, the product is not recommended for dietetic food. In addition, this is a fairly salty cheese, regular consumption of which is not desirable in the presence of type 2 diabetes and diseases of the cardiovascular system.
Knowing how to choose feta cheese, you can prepare amazing snacks with a unique aroma and taste. The closest analogue of this variety can be considered the Bulgarian feta cheese.
