Feta cheese is traditionally made from sheep’s milk or a blend of sheep’s and goat’s milk. The maximum allowed amount of goat’s milk in feta cheese is 30%, meaning that goat’s feta cannot be called such within the EU. Goat feta has a strong, sharp flavor and is suitable for crumbling in salads, pasta, and pizza. Many cheeses formerly sold as feta in Europe are now called by other names.
Goat feta is a type of cheese made from goat’s milk. Feta cheese is very popular in the eastern Mediterranean region, especially Greece, where it originated. The term feta cheese is a designation of product of protected origin. This means that, according to European Union (EU) law, cheese sold within its borders can only be called feta cheese if it is produced according to certain parameters in certain regions of Greece. Feta cheese is made from sheep’s milk or a blend of sheep’s and goat’s milk. The maximum allowed amount of goat’s milk in feta cheese, according to EU law, is 30%, meaning that goat’s feta cannot actually be called such within the borders of the EU.
Feta cheese is one of the oldest known cheeses and has been made in present-day modern Greece and nearby areas for thousands of years. Traditionally, cheese was made from sheep’s milk, although goat’s milk was sometimes used, either in combination with sheep’s milk or on its own. Feta is a ricotta cheese and is pressed into blocks, salted and aged in brine, often for periods of several months. In other parts of the world, similar cheeses, often made from cow’s milk, are produced and sold as feta cheese, but these are not authentic feta. Goat feta is technically a feta-type cheese made from goat’s milk or a blend containing primarily goat’s milk, although the term is sometimes used to describe any feta cheese containing goat’s milk.
Known for its distinctive flavor, feta cheese is saltier than many other cheeses, with salt content sometimes close to 5%, compared to 1%-3% for many other cheeses. Goat feta takes on the distinctive flavors of the goat’s milk used to make it and can have a strong, sharp flavor that is more robust than other types of feta. Like other types of feta cheeses, goat feta can be used in a variety of ways. Its compressed curd consistency makes it particularly suitable for crumbling salads, pasta and pizza. It is an important ingredient in numerous Greek dishes and those of the surrounding regions.
Today, many cheeses formerly sold as feta in Europe are called by other names. Some names are proprietary and others generic, such as “Greek-type cheese.” In other parts of the world, these cheeses are often still sold as feta, including a goat feta. Of course, small cheese producers in Greece and surrounding regions, who make goat feta for their own use rather than for sale, are more likely to call their cheese feta, regardless of EU law.
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