Greek cheese delivers unique, sharp taste to soups, salads
By Eric Akis, The Victoria Times Colonist

During a stroll through my area supermarket, I found sheep's milk feta, goats' milk feta, cows' milk feta, flavoured feta, low-fat feta, crumbled feta, rounds tubs of feta, big blocks of feta and marinated feta.

It's a feta fanatic's dream come true, and one a very long time in the making.

According to Richard Widcombe's classic volume, The Cheese Book, this traditional Greek cheese, which also appears in various forms around the Balkans, is believed to have been developed thousands of years ago by shepherds in the mountain area outside of Athens. Without refrigeration, it was a very practical cheese to make.

Feta is traditionally made with sheep's milk, goats' milk or a combination of the two, but now is often made with cows' milk, which yields a less robust-tasting cheese. Nowadays, the cheese is made in many countries around the world, including Canada, Denmark and the United States.

To make it, the milk is heated and rennet added to curdle it. The resulting cheese curds are separated and allowed to drain and compact in perforated moulds or cloth bags.

The cheese is then cut into large slices -- unless small, individual-sized feta moulds are used -- and covered in brine (a salt and water or whey solution) and allowed to mature several weeks. Because the cheese is brined like pickles are, it is sometimes called pickled cheese.

For Greek shepherds way back when, the process helped preserve the freshness and gave it a unique, sharp taste not found in any other cheese.

The resulting product is, as anyone who has handled the cheese will know, a solid but crumbly mass of white, aromatic cheese with a pleasant, salty and tangy flavour that can range from mild to sharp. The texture of feta ranges from semi-soft to firm, depending on how long it stays in the brine, the type of milk used and its fat content.

Beyond the allure of its taste, another reason feta cheese has become so mainstream is because it is so easy to use. No slicing or grating, you just (in most circumstances) crumble the cheese into what you are preparing.

You don't often see feta cheese as a stand-alone star on a cheese tray because its intense flavour and crumbly nature makes it a better ingredient to add to dishes, cooked or raw, that need a lift in flavour.

To highlight this point, I present three delicious recipes and a collection of ways to use feta cheese in everyday situations, here and on page B5.

Tomato Soup with Crumbled Feta offers a simple dish with rich colour and lively flavour. Serve it with grilled pita bread, cut into wedges for dunking.

With Greek Salad Skewers, choose a firm feta cheese that can be skewered and not fall apart in this colourful version of Greek salad. Serve the skewers with roast lamb or grilled meats, burgers, seafood or poultry.

Finally, Feta and Spinach Dip with Dill and Garlic is a robust taste treat that's great for dipping wedges of pita bread and raw vegetables sticks.


Everyday Ways to Use Feta
- Add zing to a homemade or store-bought pizza by topping it with a little crumbled feta before baking
Make Greek-style hamburgers by encasing a thick slice of feta in the centre of your burger before cooking. Place the burger in a pita and top with tzatziki sauce, cucumbers, tomatoes and pitted olives.

- Make a delicious appetizer or item for a tray of antipasto by marinating cubes of feta in the fridge overnight in olive oil, oregano, lemon zest, chili flakes, cracked black pepper and garlic. Warm to room temperature before serving with crusty bread.

- Liven up a bowl of your favourite pasta by topping it with crumbled feta just before serving.

- Add tang to soup with a last-minute addition of crumbled feta. It is particularly good with tomato-based and Mediterranean-style bean or vegetable soups.

- Enrich and give a different taste to scrambled eggs or omelettes with feta cheese, rather than the commonly used cheddar cheese.

- Give complexity to the taste of a grilled cheese sandwich by topping the cheddar cheese used with a little crumbled feta cheese.

Feta and Spinach Dip With Dill and Garlic

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: none
Serves about 8 (1/4 cup/50 mL) servings
- One 125-gram package hard cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) yogurt
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) sour cream
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) honey
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) chopped fresh dill, or
1 teaspoon (5 mL) dried
- 1 pound (250 g) feta cheese, crumbled
- One 300-gram package frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess moisture
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

1. Beat cream cheese until light. Whisk in yogurt and sour cream until smooth. Mix in honey, garlic and dill. Mix in feta and spinach; season with salt and pepper.

2. Spoon into a serving bowl and place on a platter. Surround with wedges of pita bread and raw vegetable for dipping, such as cherry tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower florets, and cucumber, carrot, celery and bell pepper sticks.

Options: For a lower-fat dip, use lower-fat versions of the dairy products called for in the recipe. For a hot feta and spinach dip, place dip in a small casserole, cover and heat in a 350 degreesF (180 degreesC) oven 20 to 30 minutes, or until heated through.

Greek Salad Skewers

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: none
Serves 4
For the skewers:
- 12 cubes of firm feta cheese
- 16 pitted black olives
- 8 wedges of tomato
- 8 wedges of red onion
- 8 cubes of green bell pepper
For the dressing:
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons (10 mL) Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup (50 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) chopped fresh oregano, or 1 teaspoon (5 mL) dried
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- Pinch, sugar

1. Divide and thread the cheese, olives and vegetables on four long, thin wooden or metal skewers. Arrange skewers on a serving platter.

2. Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Brush or drizzle the dressing over the skewers. Allow flavours to meld 20 minutes or so before serving.
Tomato Soup With Crumbled Feta
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: About 20 minutes
Serves 4
- 2 tablespoons (25 mL) olive oil
- 1 or 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons (25 mL) flour
- 2 tablespoons (25 mL) tomato paste
- 2 cups (500 mL) chicken or vegetable stock
- One 28-ounce (796-mL) can diced tomatoes
- Pinch, sugar
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup (50 mL) coarsely chopped fresh oregano
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) crumbled feta cheese

1. Heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook until very tender, about 5 minutes. Mix in flour and tomato paste and cook 1 to 2 minutes more. Slowly, stirring constantly, pour in the stock. Mix in the diced tomatoes and sugar; simmer 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Puree the mixture, in batches if necessary, in a food processor or blender until smooth. Return to the pot and bring back to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper; stir in oregano, saving a little to sprinkle on top of the soup. Ladle into heated soups bowl. Sprinkle top of the soup with the cheese and remaining oregano and serve.

Option: If you don't have fresh oregano, use dried. Add it when you add the diced tomatoes, as dried herbs need to cook or be moistened to release their flavor.