Greek cheeses are diverse, with each region having its own style. Feta is the most popular, but other types include myzithra, kasseri, and graviera. Cheesecake in Greece traditionally used soaked hard cheeses, such as feta and myzithra.
Greek cheeses are many and very varied, with many colours, flavors and textures. For the most part, each area in Greece has its own regional style of cheese and can have different types of local cheeses. They can be hard or soft and aged or fresh and come in many colors. The most popular and well-known variety of Greek cheese is feta. Other popular types of cheeses made in Greece include myzithra, kasseri and graviera.
The best known varieties of Greek cheese are generally graviera, feta and myzithra. Graviera is a hard cheese made from sheep’s or cow’s milk, depending on the region. It is generally known as a slightly sweet hard cheese and as a versatile cheese that can be used grated or cooked in many types of dishes.
Feta cheese is generally recognized as a soft and crumbly Greek cheese, but feta can also be hard. This type of Greek cheese is very popular and is recognized all over the world. While usually made from sheep’s and goat’s milk in Greece, many types of feta sold outside Europe in countries like the United States are made from cow’s milk. Purchasing a certified feta cheese made in Greece is the only way to guarantee that the cheese is genuine feta cheese made from sheep’s or goat’s milk.
Myzithra is a popular Greek cheese eaten in Greece and other countries where it is exported. It can be fresh and soft or hard and aged. Myzithra, also spelled mizithra, is a type of Manouri cheese, which is a group of Greek cheeses made from the whey from the manufacturing process that produces feta.
Aged myzithra is slightly off-white and hard. It is generally used for grating pasta and salad. Aged myzithra is salted, dried and aged to achieve its popular flavor and texture.
This type of aged cheese can be made with or without yeast in the cheese blend. The yeast in Greek hard cheese gives the flavor a slight tang. Myzithra with yeast is often called sour myzithra. Other Greek hard cheeses include kefalotiri and metsovone.
The soft type of myzithra, also known as anthotyro, is fresh and unsalted, with a texture somewhat like cottage cheese or cottage cheese. It is often used as a dipping or spreadable cheese or baked in cheesecakes. Other soft Greek cheeses include katiki and touloumotyri.
Historians have widely credited Greece with the invention of cheesecake, although the earliest cheesecakes in Greece were often savory. In Greece, rather than cream cheese, traditional cheesecakes were often made with soaked hard cheeses. The types of cheeses used in cheesecakes made with Greek cheese can vary, but the cheese varieties typically used in traditional Greek cheesecake recipes include feta and myzithra.
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