From en.wikipedia.org:
[Brined white cheese from Greece] [FETA (disambiguation) [!] FETA]
[date=January 2014] {{Infobox cheese | name = Feta | image = 250px |
othernames = | country = Greece | regiontown = | region = Mainland Greece and
Lesbos Prefecture | town = | source = Sheep (≥70%) and goat per PDO; similar
cheeses may contain cow or buffalo milk | pasteurized = Depends on variety |
texture = Depends on variety | fat = | protein = | dimensions = | weight = |
aging = Min. 3 months | certification = PDO, 2002 }}
FETA ([ˈ] [FET]; [el] [el]) is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep
milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat milk. It is soft, with small or no
holes, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is formed into
large blocks and aged in brine. Its flavor is tangy and salty, ranging from
mild to sharp. Feta is used 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. 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 in the European
Union (EU). EU legislation and similar legislation in 25 other countries<ref
name=Origin/> limits the name _feta_ to cheeses produced in the traditional
way in mainland Greece and Lesbos Prefecture,<ref name=GIView/> which are made
from sheep milk, or from a mixture of sheep milk and up to 30% of goat milk
from the same area.<ref name=Gooch>[last=Gooch ]
Similar white brined cheeses are made traditionally in the Balkans, Cyprus,
around the Black Sea, in West Asia, and more recently elsewhere. Outside the
EU, the name _feta_ is often used generically for these cheeses.[1]
** 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, Italy, the United Kingdom and
the United States, often partly or wholly of cow milk, and is (or was)
sometimes also called _feta_.<ref name="Pappas"/>[2] In the United States,
most cheese sold under the name _feta_ is American and made from cow
milk.[3][date=March 2023]
** Geographical Indication
[[File:Feta GI.svg|thumb|300px|Countries where the term Feta is protected as a
Geographical Indication [#f9cc88] [#cc88f9] [#88f9cc]]]
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 milk, or from a mixture of sheep
milk and up to 30% of goat 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.
{| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Protection of Feta/Φέτα as a Geographical
Indication<ref
name=Origin>[url=https://www.origin-gi.com/i-gi-origin-worldwide-gi-compilation-uk.html?filter=Feta&cc=p]<ref
name=GIView>[url=https://www.tmdn.org/giview/gi/EUGI00000013179] |- !
Country/Territory !! Start of protection !! Comments/Exceptions |- | European
Union || [15 October 2002] || PDO, also valid in Northern Ireland |- | Armenia
|| [26 January 2018] || Also protected as Ֆետա |- | Bosnia and Herzegovina ||
[18 February 2016] || |- | Canada || [21 September 2017] || Use of feta
including the terms "kind", "type", "style", "imitation" etc. is allowed, as
well as use by producers using the term before 18 October 2013. |- | China ||
[1 March 2021] || Also protected as 菲达奶酪. Until 1 March 2029 limited use of
the term is allowed for similar products. |- | Colombia || || |- | Costa Rica
|| || |- | El Salvador || || |- | Ecuador || || |- | Georgia ||[1 April 2012]
|| Also protected as ფეტა. |- | Guatemala || || |- | Honduras || || |- |
Iceland ||[1 May 2018] || |- | Japan ||[1 February 2019] || Also protected as
フェタ. |- | Kosovo ||[1 April 2016] || |- | Liechtenstein ||[27 July 2007] ||
|- | Moldova ||[1 April 2013] || |- | Montenegro ||[1 January 2008] || |- |
Nicaragua || || |- | Panama || || |- | Peru || || |- | Serbia || [1 February
2010] || |- | Singapore || [29 June 2019] || |- | South Africa || [1 November
2016] || |- | South Korea || [14 May 2011] || Also protected as 페따. |- |
Switzerland || [01 December 2014] || |- | Ukraine || [31 December 2015] ||
Also protected as Фета. As of 31 December 2022, limited use of the term is no
longer allowed for similar products |- | United Kingdom || [31 December 2020]
|| Continuation of EU PDO, valid in England, Scotland and Wales |- | Vietnam||
[1 August 2020] || |}
** 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.[4]
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 and ginger, 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.<ref name=GIView/>
** Production
Traditionally (and legally within the EU and other territories where it is
protected), feta is produced using only whole sheep milk, or a blend of sheep
and goat milk (with a maximum of 30% goat milk).[5] 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 that are killed in pasteurization.
These organisms are required for acidity and flavour development.
When the pasteurized milk has cooled to approximately [35],<ref
name=Harbutt>[Harbutt].[6] rennet 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.[7][8] After several hours,
the curd is firm enough to cut up and salt;<ref name=Harbutt/> salinity will
eventually reach approximately 3%,<ref name="Feta Production"/> 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.<ref
name=Harbutt/><ref name="Feta Production"/><ref name="Odysea"/>
After the dry-salting of the cheese is complete, aging or maturation in brine
(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,<ref name="Feta
Production"/><ref name="Odysea"/> 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
[width=265px]
Cheese made from sheep and goat milk has been common in the Eastern
Mediterranean since ancient times.<ref name=Dalby23>[Dalby].<ref name=Adams/>
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.[9] 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.<ref name=Polychroniadou283>[Polychroniadou-Alichanidou].<ref
name=Bintsis-Alichanidis>[Bintsis]. In the _Odyssey_, Homer describes how
Polyphemus makes cheese and dry-stores it in wicker racks,[10][11] though he
says nothing about brining[12]—resulting perhaps, according to Paul S.
Kindstedt, in a rinded cheese similar to modern pecorino and caprino rather
than feta.[13] On the other hand, E. M. Antifantakis and G. Moatsou state
that Polyphemus' cheese was "undoubtedly the ancestor of modern Feta".<ref
name=Antifantakis-Moatsou>[Antifantakis]. Origins aside, cheese produced from
sheep-goat milk was a common food in ancient Greece and an integral component
of later Greek gastronomy.<ref name=Polychroniadou283/><ref
name=Bintsis-Alichanidis/><ref name=Antifantakis-Moatsou/>
The first unambiguous documentation of preserving cheese in brine appears in
Cato the Elder's _De Agri Cultura_ (2nd century BC), though the practice was
surely much older.<ref name=Kindstedt50>[Kindstedt]. It is also described in
the 10th-century _Geoponica_.<ref name=Kindstedt50/> Feta cheese,
specifically, is recorded by Psellos in the 11th century under the name
_prósphatos_ (Greek πρόσφατος 'recent, fresh'), and was produced by
Cretans.[14] In the late 15th century, an Italian visitor to Candia, Pietro
Casola, describes the marketing of feta, as well as its storage in brine.<ref
name=Dalby190>[Dalby]. Feta cheese, along with milk and sheep meat, is the
principal source of income for shepherds in northwestern Greece.[15]
The Greek word [el] ([el]) comes from the Italian [it] [slice], which in turn
is derived from the Latin [la] [morsel, piece].[16][17] 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.<ref
name=Adams>[Adams]. The same cheese can be referred to differently within
Greece itself. In Thessaloniki, for example, it is referred to as [el]
([el]), which is the general word for [cheese] in the south of the
country.[18]
** 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.<ref
name=CJEU2005>[url=https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document..jsf?text=&docid=60669&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=4869991]
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[19] 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.<ref
name=CJEU1999>[url=https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=44488&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=4872830]
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.<ref name="CJEU2005" />
Although the island of Cephalonia also traditionally produces feta, the island
was left out of the definition of the protected designation of origin. While
this does not play a role for consumers in Greece, dairies lose out in sales
abroad because they do not produce real "feta" and have to accept price
reductions.[20]
The European Commission gave other nations five years to find a new name for
their feta cheese or stop production.<ref name=Gooch/> 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.[21] The British cheese Yorkshire Feta was renamed
to Fine Fettle Yorkshire.[22] 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, Free Trade Agreements
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".[23][24][25][26] In other markets such as the United States,
Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere, full generic usage of the term "feta"
continues, and was one of several original name issues preventing the signing
of an Australia–EU free trade deal.[27]
** Nutrition
[name=Feta (typical)]
Feta has significant amounts of calcium and phosphorus; however, feta is
higher in water and thus lower in fat and calories than aged cheeses like
parmigiano-reggiano or cheddar.[28] The cheese may contain beneficial
probiotics.[29]
Feta, as a sheep dairy product, contains up to 1.9% conjugated linoleic acid
(CLA), which is about 0.8% of its fat content.[30]
Feta cheese is very high in salt, at over 400 mg sodium per 100 calories.[31]
** Similar cheeses
alt=
Similar cheeses can be found in other countries, such as:
- Albania ( Urdha or _djathë i bardhë_ , [white cheese] )
- Armenia ( _Չանախ_ chanakh - cheese made in a _chan_ , a type of crock )
- Azerbaijan ( _ağ pendir_ , [white cheese] )
- Bosnia (Travnički/ Vlašićki sir , lit. "cheese from Vlašić / Travnik ")
- Bulgaria (бяло сирене, [bg] , lit. "white cheese")
- Canada ( _feta style cheese_ , or simply _feta_ for those companies producing the cheese prior to October 2013)
- Cyprus ( _χαλίτζια_ , halitzia)
- 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 ; [fa] _panīr-e līghvān_ )
- Israel ( _gvinat rosh hanikra_ , lit. " Rosh Hanikra cheese ", sometimes called abroad 'Israeli feta'.)
- Italy ( _casu 'e fitta_ Sardinia )
- Lebanon ( [ar] , lit. "Bulgarian cheese")
- North Macedonia (сирење, _sirenje_ )
- Palestine and Jordan ( Nabulsi cheese ; [ar] , and _Akkawi_ ; [ar] )
- Romania ( _brânză telemea_ )
- Russia (брынза, _brynza_ )
- Serbia (сир, _sir_ as a common name; сирење, _sirenje_ in South, including Kosovo Serb; and _brinza_ in north and east Serbia within Slovak and Aromanian populations)
- Slovakia ( _bryndza_ and _Balkánsky syr_ , lit. "Balkan cheese")
- Spain ( _Queso de Burgos_ , lit. "Burgos cheese")
- Sudan ( _gibna beyda_ , lit. "white cheese")
- Tajikistan ( [tg] , _panir_ , lit. "cheese")
- Turkey ( _beyaz peynir_ , lit. "white cheese")
- Ukraine (бринза, _brynza_ )
- United Kingdom ("salad cheese")
** See also
[Food]
- [List of ancient dishes]
- [List of cheeses]
** Citations
[2]
** General and cited references
[2]
- [last=Adams]
- [last1=Antifantakis]
- [last=Babiniotis]
- [last1=Barthélemy]
- [last1=Bintsis]
- [last=Dalby]
- [last=Kindstedt]
- [last=Harbutt]
- [last1=Hatziminaoglou]
- [ref= [Official Journal of the European Union] ]
- [last=Polychroniadou-Alichanidou]
- [last1=Prandini]
- [last=Razionale]
[2]
** Further reading
- [last=Petridou]
** External links
[Feta Cheese]
- International Feta Day (see https://fetaday.com)
[Cuisine of Greece] [Greek cheeses] [Authority control]
Category:Cheeses with designation of origin protected in the European Union
Category:Greek cheeses Category:Greek products with protected designation of
origin Category:Goat's-milk cheeses Category:Mixed-milk cheeses
Category:Sheep's-milk cheeses Category:Brined white cheeses