The Principal Greek Cheeses
Feta: This is probably the best-known Greek cheese and is also the oldest historically. It is a soft white cheese, made of sheep's milk, and stored in round or square "heads" which are put into wooden barrels or large tins. Sometimes it is harder and has a sharper, more spicy taste. 100 grams of feta contain 22 grams of fat, 23 grams of protein and 294 calories.
Telemes: A variation of feta. It is very tasty and is just as nourishing as feta.
Manouri: A soft cheese made from sheep's milk and retaining all the butter fat. Cheese-makers consider it a cheese of superior quality. White and delicious it should be as soon as it is purchased as it is liable to spoil if kept too long.
Mezithra: A variety of manouri. It is made from a mixture of whey, butter fat and a number of different kinds of milk. 100 grams of mezithra contain 150 calories.
Anthotiro: A type of soft metzithra made of high-fat milk (there are low-fat varieties avaible as well). The full-fat cheese has 300 calories for each 100 gram portion.
Kopanisti: A soft and peppery cheese, easily spread and so spicy it makes a fine appetiser for ouzo or dry white wine. Made of whole sheep's milk it is liberally salted while curing and then mixed with freshly ground red pepper.
Kasseri: Made primarily of sheep's milk it is pale yellow in colour and spicy in taste. It is a semi-hard cheese and can be found in 7 kilo "heads" though smaller sizes are available as well.
Kefalotiri: This is a traditional hard cheese made of a mixture of sheep's and goat's milk. It is light yellow in colour with small, irregular holes and quite salty with a strong and spicy flavour. On some of the islands it is made in the same way as in Byzantine times.
Kefalograviera: A hard cheese made from cow's or a mixture of cow's and sheep's milk. It is light yellow in colour and slightly sharp in taste and has many small holes. 100 grams contain 395 calories.
Graviera: A hard cheese similar to kefalograviera. It is made from cow's milk and sometimes a little sheep's milk is also added. It has a sweet taste and a delicate aroma and is considered one of the most noble cheeses. It has holes the size of a chickpea and 100 grams contains 400 calories.
Touloumotiri: A soft cheese made of sheep's or goat's milk or a mixture of the two. It is kept in goatskin or sheepskin bags and looks like feta. It is equally nutritious but is produced in much smaller quantities. This cheese was also made in antiquity.
Halloumi: This is the Cypriot cheese par excellence. It is made of pasteurised sheep or goat', milk and has a high fat content. It also contains rennet, salt and mint and very tasty. In Cyprus it is added to many recipes, & often grilled.
