GB Fine Cheese & Charcuterie October 2015

Are You Being Served? 

I do enjoy salads of all different types and ingredients, but I have a particular love of Mediterranean salads, especially Greek salads. Part of my love for the Greek type salad is that the dressings that I use are not sweet. They are more spicy and piquant. I often make a simple homemade dressing with fresh lemon juice, garlic and oregano that seems to compliment the saltiness of the individual ingredients. Aside from the dressing, any combination of leafy greens and vegeta- bles will do as long as it has good salt-brined Kalamata olives, and exceptional feta, which is the true star of the show. 

I feel sorry for all of the Americans who have only been exposed to cow’s milk feta. It’s mild flavor and harder texture just doesn’t capture the true feta experience in my opinion. Worse yet, they are often not presented with a choice in the local grocery store so they may be completely unaware that there is a more delicious alternative, mind you at a more expensive price. But, it doesn’t take much of the full-flavored feta enhanced with goat’s or sheep’s milk to add flavor to your salad.  I love the taste of the Valbreso feta made with 100% sheep’s milk. It has a softer consistency and creamy yet salty taste that is out of this world. The Dodoni feta is another favorite, made with a mixture of sheep’s and goat’s according to a more traditional Greek recipe. Sometimes I am lucky enough to find brands like these in the grocery store, but more often than not, it’s absent. 

Why is it that all too often the better tasting feta is not on offer at so many grocery outlets? The price per pound is usually not all that different from good-quality domestic cheddar. I make a regular pilgrimage to Sevan bakery in a section of Boston known to have a concen- trated Armenian/Lebanese population just to have ac- cess to the best varieties of feta because it is worth the trouble (not to mention that the freshly made hummus and babba ganoush is equally to die for). I would gladly pay a little more at the local grocery store so I don’t have to wait to make another trip to my specialty store. 

As I see it, feta cheese is a great way to add protein, calcium and great flavor to a meal on a regular basis. Perhaps if more grocery outlets included the varieties that are made with sheep’s or goat’s milk, others would discover, and fall in love with it too. I have seen better quality choices find its way into the assortment with other varieties of cheeses. Perhaps it’s time for us to consider extending a similar strategy with feta. 

David Spencer
Publisher, Gourmet Business 

President, HousewaresDirect, Inc. 

dspencer@gourmetbusiness.com