Manouri cheese is a semi-soft fresh cheese made from whey drained from feta production combined with cream and/or milk. It is creamier, milder, and less salty than feta and is only produced in Greece. It is used in various recipes and is imported to the US by companies like Mt. Vikos, Castella Imports, and Parthenon Foods. In 2005, there was a recall of Provato Manouri cheese in Canada due to fears of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.
Greeks are known for their traditional sheep and goat milk cheeses, including anthotyro, feta, haloumi, kasseri, kefalotyri, telemes, touloumotyri, and manouri cheese. Manouri cheese is described as a semi-soft fresh cheese made from drained whey from feta production combined with cream and/or milk. The result is creamier, milder, and less salty than feta. It is also sometimes characterized by a light citrus or lemon aroma.
Manouri cheese also differs from feta in another respect. While feta is produced in Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy and the United States as well as Greece, Manouri cheese appears to be produced only in Greece. Manouri is produced in Thessaly and in central and western Macedonia, in both central and northern Greece.
In recipes, Manouri cheese is used interchangeably with a number of other cheeses including cream cheese, feta, ricotta salata, mizithra, mozzarella and farmer cheese. Creamy white cheese has no rind or shell and is often sold in log-shaped rolls.
Typical uses of manouri cheese include:
spanikopita, the spinach cheese platter made with layers of phyllo dough and typically including a blend of cheeses, such as feta, anthotyro, and manouri;
kalitsounia, sweets from Crete;
cheese pies, including those served at Easter – a cream pie made with a cheese blend that may include feta, manouri, kefalotyri, or parmesan;
in the condiment called brinza;
served with slices of fresh fruit, honey and toasted nuts;
as a salad garnish especially for bean, aubergine or tomato salads;
like desert cheese; And
as a condiment for pasta.
There are a small number of companies that serve as importers of Manouri cheese in the United States. These include Mt. Vikos in Marshfield, Massachusetts; Castella Imports in Hauppauge, New York; and Parthenon Foods in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In January of 2005, there was a recall by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency of the traditional Greek cheese Provato Manouri, over fears that it might be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. At the time of the recall, there had been no cases of disease and the product was made with pasteurized milk.
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