Trader Joe’s AUTHENTIC GREEK FETA in brine

AN OUTSTANDING FETA CHEESE

RAVE

“You know how many kinds of feta exist? Thousands. Every place you go in Greece, they make feta” (Greek cheese monger in Astoria Queens)

TRADER JOE’S AUTHENTIC GREEK FETA in brine. Imported from Greece.

Though feta cheese can be made from many kinds of milk, it’s said sheep’s milk produces the best feta. That is a 100% Sheep’s Milk feta. It has the aroma and tangy flavor of a sheep milk feta along with a firm texture, but its not dry, its pretty creamy. The cheese comes in two large slabs in a salt brine which is the way feta should ideally be sold as well as kept in your fridge.

Brine preserves the texture and flavor. I find this not overly salty but just right; You will eat it with other things in which you can use less salt. There are a many types of feta cheese made in quite a few countries. It’s made from cow, goat and sheep milk. Feta made from sheep’s milk is produced in France, Bulgaria, Israel and of course, Greece. Greek Feta may be the best of them all though I honestly like feta from all of the countries I just mentioned for different reason. (French feta is creamy for example) TJ has an Israeli feta too, excellent though more expensive than this one. It has a creamier texture. Start with the Greek one, so you have a baseline.

One thing about this TJ Feta which is NOT good: the packaging. Its terrible, because this plastic box is REALLY HARD TO OPEN. In fact its a right pain. Look carefully at the top. The thin top part is a lid that once you can open it will come off. First break the corner seal by ripping a small plastic tab in one corner of the tub. Then you can (hopefully) pry the top off carefully Do this flat on the counter, slowly so the brine doesn’t fly out everywhere. TIP: You can use a butter knife to help get the lid off, prying it. Once you open it a few times, it gets easier so don’t give up, though you will curse whoever designed this terrible packaging. Anyway the feta inside is good and worth it (but still, argh!). And by the way don’t throw out the brine when the cheese is finished (more on this later).

Here’s just a few ideas on what you can do with feta cheese. I mean yes it’s delicious just by itself but it’s so versatile to have in the fridge to use with other things, like….

Greek Salad: Put a slab of feta on top of salad greens, chopped up cukes and tomatoes and voila, you have a Greek salad. Throw on some olives if you have them. Drizzle a good slug of very good Extra Virgin Olive Oil on and squeeze on fresh lemon juice. Grind on fresh black pepper. You can even vamp it up with more proteins like hard boiled eggs, drained canned tuna or sardines, or grilled chicken. Serve some good crusty bread and you have a lovely, super easy dinner in minutes.

Watermelon and Feta salad: Cubes of sweet watermelon with cubes of salty feta is a Genius combo. I’ve decided I don’t need olive oil on this, just the two ingredients and a grind of black pepper. But if you like with EVOO go for it. Fresh ground pepper is good with this.

Shakshuka and Feta: Use TJ’s frozen Shakshuka starter: add cubes of this feta as you cook it. Fantastic!

Feta cheese is often used in cooking: one of my favorite Greek dishes is “Garides mi Feta” (Shrimp with tomatoes and Feta) It’s fantastic!

The latest craze is that “Baked Feta Pasta” recipe that is making feta cheese hard to find so many people started looking for it, producers could not keep up!

As this feta is imported from Greece of course it costs more than the small pack of feta cheese TJ carries at $3 for 8 oz. which is pretty good if made from cows milk but it’s not great like this imported Greek one. This Greek feta is $6.49 for 10 oz (drained). So figure about $10/lb for a real “Product of Greece” feta, which is a decent price for real Greek feta. Honestly this stuff will make your meal or dish, so worth the occasional splurge.

Oh and remember I said keep that brine? You can actually use it. That milky feta brine actually has flavor. Melissa Clark in the New York Times put out a great recipe for chicken using brine, plus you can marinate chicken breasts in feta brine for 30-60 minutes; Bake, broil, pan grill…! They will be SO juicy from the brining.

https://food52.com/recipes/69859-melissa-clark-s-feta-brined-roast-chicken

https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/primers/article/feta-guide

https://food52.com/blog/23031-how-to-use-feta-brine-water-salt-tricks-tips