There are over 5500 different recorded species of flora in Greece, about a 1000 of those species are endemic to the land and over 700 of those may be found only in Greece. That’s what the sheep and goats are eating, and it comes through in their milk.

Finding Real Feta
Outside of Greece it is sometimes difficult to find real Feta. The situation should improve in the EU in 2007, when all European countries must comply with the EC’s PDO ruling on Feta. Unfortunately, the US does not recognize PDO status, so imitation fetas will likely flourish there for much time to come.

And flourish they do. The leading brand of "feta" in the US is Athenos. You would think from the brand’s name that this cheese came from Athens, Greece, but it actually comes from North Central Wisconsin. Manufactured by Kraft-subsidiary Churny, this "feta" cheese holds a 64% share of the retail category. It’s made from cows’ milk and bears about as much relation to authentic Feta as Processed American Cheese Food does to a Farmhouse Cheddar.

Even gourmet stores – stores that pride themselves on supplying the finest Pecorinos, Ossau-Iratys, and Asiagos – often give short shrift to Feta. Dean and Deluca, for example, sells French "feta". French "feta" is produced in the same region from whence comes Roquefort.

In fact, their "feta" is made from ewe’s milk left over from Roquefort production. Roquefort is a Protected Designation of Origin cheese, so there is some irony in the fact these Roquefort/"feta" producers were some of the most adamant critics of Greece’s Feta PDO appeal.

To illustrate the difficulties of finding authentic Feta, at least in the States, let’s take a look at the web site igourmet. Igourmet offers a truly extensive range of cheeses, and this includes a wide variety of so-called "fetas". In fact, they offer 11 different brands. I have them arranged from most expensive to least expensive, by weight:

The most expensive "feta" comes from Australia, and it was not just a plain "feta", but one marinated in olive oil, canola oil, thyme, peppercorn and garlic. The next most expensive "feta" came from the US State of Montana. This "feta" is made entirely out of goat’s milk and is packaged in small amounts (4 ounces, or 113 grams). In third place is a pre-cubed Danish Kosher "feta" using Cholov Yisroel cows’ milk (milk that has been supervised by a Jew from milking to packaging). Next is an Argentinean "feta" made from goats living in the Andes.

Dodoni’s Feta, which actually is Feta, is the fifth most expensive. The other "fetas" are primarily of French, Bulgarian or Hungarian manufacture, though the "Barrel Aged Feta" may be the one produced by Mt. Vikos (the company did not respond to my inquiry on this subject). Though not included on the igourmet web site, there are other Fetas available in the US besides the (very fine) one manufactured by Dodoni. Mt. Vikos makes several lovely fetas, including a barrel-aged Feta, which comes from a production facility in central Greece. In addition, both Krinos and Fantis Foods (which represents Dodoni in the US) offer authentic Fetas.

Respecting Feta
Greeks are the largest per capita consumers of cheese in the world, eating on average over 23 kilograms of cheese a year. Nearly half of the cheese they eat is Feta. Some may disagree with the EU PDO ruling, but it would be hard to argue that Greeks don’t know something about Feta. Experience counts.

Cheesemongers would be scandalized if a Grana Padano claimed to be a Parmigiano-Reggiano, or vice versa. They should be equally scandalized if a Sirene claimed to be a Feta (or vice versa) and even more scandalized if any old white, crumbly cheese was labeled "feta". Hans Arne Kristiansen, a spokesman for the Danish Dairy, once claimed in re their "feta", "we do not have any other name or term for this type of cheese." But of course there are names. May I suggest "White Shepherd’s Cheese"? It is both accurate and descriptive. Just – please – don’t call it Feta.