Feta's Characteristics In general, feta cheeses are fresh, white cheeses that have a salty and tangy profile, complemented by a crumbly and somewhat creamy texture.
Australian feta is usually made from cow's milk. The texture and flavour can vary, but it's generally a happy medium between the saltiness of Greek feta and the creaminess of Danish feta.
Greek Feta
This is the stuff that you see most frequently. Greek feta is briny, tangy, and sharp, and the fine texture makes it perfect to crumble in salads, sprinkle on cold soups, or toss into some rigatoni with sausage, beans, and greens.
Bulgarian Feta's texture is firmer and springier than that of Greek, and it doesn't crumble as easily. Israeli Feta is most often made from sheep milk, and it's the most mellow out of all Feta varieties, with only mild tanginess and low salt content.
If it is pre-packed, it should have some of the brine in the packaging to keep it moist. Feta cheese varies in flavour depending on the length of aging and its origin. As feta slowly ages it loses moisture and its texture becomes drier and more crumbly.
Feta is our favorite cheese that crumbles. Brands might differ in their texture; some are soft and some are hard depending on the total fat they contain. But they are all good to crumble.
A creamier and smoother variant of the original Greek Feta cheese, Danish Feta (also called Danish White) is made from cow's milk. Though it isn't authentic, the Danish type of feta wins heart over with its mild flavour and ability to be cubed and sliced without crumbling.
Store the leftover feta in the brine, making sure the cheese is covered completely. The brine is also the flavoring agent that gives feta its salty punch, so if the feta you've picked up is already super salty, simply storing it in plain water will help keep its crumbly texture without adding any unnecessary flavor.
Feta cheese is sold either crumbled or in a block. Crumbled feta is more convenient, but it's harder and drier than feta in a block. That's because it contains powdered cellulose to prevent caking. Because of all that, crumbled feta cheese will stay fresh for up to a week after you open the packaging.
Feta cheese is really soft, and has a tendency to crumble really easily. Freezing your cheese makes it a lot firmer, which makes it a lot easier to slice.
Feta has been registered as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) product, and so according to European Union law, the only true feta is that which is made in Greece.
The one very simple thing you need to do to ensure you're buying authentic sheep's milk feta is to look for the letters 'PDO' on the packet. These letters stand for 'protected designation of origin', and if it's not on the packet then it isn't real feta.
French Feta is milder in flavor than Greek and Bulgarian Fetas, less salty, and creamier in texture. Look for it under the Valbreso label. Israeli Feta: Typically made from sheep's milk and brined for about a month, this cheese has a much mellower flavor than Greek feta, and is less salty.
This Australian feta is made from cow's milk (Friesians) and is classed as a soft cheese. Australian Fetta is a brined, matured cheese that is white in colour with an open texture. Some would consider it to be a happy medium between the creaminess of the Danish Feta and the saltiness of the Greek Feta.
Feta cheese is a good source of essential vitamins and minerals. However, the high sodium content in feta cheese may cause complications with certain medical conditions. Feta contains more calcium than many other cheeses. Calcium helps you maintain healthy teeth and bones.
Opened leftover feta, left as is, will last 5-7 days in the refrigerator in both forms. However, if you store opened feta blocks in their brine, or add feta crumbles to a brine, they should stay good for about a month.
Feta (Greek: φέτα, féta) 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 formed into large blocks and aged in brine.
Feta dries out quickly when removed from its brine, so always store feta in the brine it is packed in (we do not recommend buying precrumbled “dry” feta). One final note: It's a good idea to rinse feta packed in brine just before serving to remove excess salt.
One of the most common reasons for a dry, crumbly texture in cheese though is over acidification. This means that through one or more steps the acid in your cheese has been allowed to over develop, reducing the amount of protein in the cheese, causing it to become more brittle.
If you see white on your cheese, don't just throw it away. Touch the white stuff to see if it's hard or soft. If it's soft, it's probably mold (and you can just cut it off of a firm cheese). If it's hard, it's a precious little colony of crystals, and you have hit the cheese jackpot.
Premium authentic Greek feta cheese made from pasteurized sheep's and goat's milk Protected Designation of Origin (P.D.O.)
Yes. They are all made from pasteurised milk, which is the law in Australia.
Ingredients:- A Cheese Prepared From Pasteurised Cows Milk, Palm Oil, Salt, Starter Cultures, Microbial Rennet,lipase. Contains: Milk.
Run the feta under very cold water for 10 seconds. This will clear away any brine and firm it up. For salads, use your hands or the tines of a fork to break it up into small pieces. They do not have to be tiny; small chunks work just fine.