Feta
Beginner
🧀 Photo slot
The Greek cheese matured in brine — salty and bracingly tangy.
TasteStrongly seasoned and sour, with the salt of the brine carried all the way through. Barrel-aged feta is creamier and more complex; feta matured in tins comes out firmer and crumblier — 'barrel aged' on the label tells you which.
TextureCrumbles in the hand but stays moist rather than dry. It barely melts, so under the grill it browns and holds together.
Similar cheeses
How it differsChèvre differs in the milk — feta is sheep's milk by definition, and real feta contains no cow's milk at all. Halloumi overlaps in that neither melts, but feta is crumbly and breaks apart under heat where halloumi stays springy and holds its shape. Feta is for scattering; halloumi is for grilling.
Pairing
🍷 WineDry white, rosé
🥂 DrinkLemon soda water
🍽️ FoodTomato, cucumber, olives, watermelon
How to enjoy
Greek salad is the classic. It holds its shape in the oven, so it also goes in whole with tomatoes. Skip the salt — it has plenty — and if a block tastes too sharp, soak it in cold water or milk for ten minutes first.
What to look for
Blocks and pre-crumbled tubs are not the same buy. Crumbles are convenient but dry out and turn salty fast because of the surface area. If it is going into salads across a week, buy a block in brine and break it up as you go. Feta with goat's milk in the blend tastes a little tangier than all-sheep, so check the ingredients if you want the milder one.
Storage
Keep it submerged in the brine it came in; pour that away and it dries out and turns sharper fast. If the brine runs low, top it up with a teaspoon of salt per cup of water — submerged, it keeps for weeks.
⏳ Aging2 months and up (in brine)
Good to know
'Feta' means 'slice' — it was cut in big pieces out of the barrel to sell. Since 2002 only Greek cheese may be called feta in the EU: at least 70% sheep's milk, with goat's milk the only permitted remainder. That's why the cow's-milk lookalikes can only call themselves 'feta style'.