Cheese.  Just a mere mention of the word and one would think of sumptuous appetizers or meals served with them.  Cheese, when served with wine, depicts impeccable taste and class.  Here is but one of the many varieties of cheeses: Meet the Feta Cheese. Feta (from the Italian word ‘fetta’ meaning ‘slice’) is actually cheese curd in brine solution.  It takes at least three months to make feta.When it is removed from the solution, this type of cheese dries up immediately.  Milk from goats, sheep or cow can be used to make this. The first historic record of feta cheese was during the Byzantine time.  One Italian who visited Candia (in 1494) made a vivid description of the brine solution used in making feta cheese.  Additional records are those of Balkan peasants who made it either with sheep’s or goat’s milk.

Nowadays, cow’s milk can be used to make feta cheese.The processes involved are: curdling of the milk with rennet, separation and draining of the curd, putting salt on the blocks of curd, slicing the slabs which are then salted once more. Feta is usually used in making salads and is much tastier when combined with tomatoes, olives and green vegetables.One can store feta cheese indefinitely because of the salt solution.  A wise tip: if you want to reduce the saltiness of the cheese, soak feta first in milk or water (just for a few minutes) before eating. 

Now here is some important nutritional information:  it contains 30-60% fat of which 45% is fat from milk. The caloric content is 100 calories per small slice.  Whether that’s good or bad for you is a question you need to ask your nutritionist. There were actually some studies that were done to lower the salinity of feta cheese and how this has significantly improved its nutritional value.The conclusion was, it has good and bad points.  The good: it is a superior source of riboflavin, protein, calcium, phosphorus and Vitamin B12.  The bad: it has a high cholesterol and sodium content.It comes with high saturated fat.

About the author: Tom Ventor studies on Fire Doors installation and he has a very skillful career at Roller doors improvement. He own a company which aims at Steel Door.

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