What is feta cheese?

To make chopped feta, place it on a chopping board and using a sharp knife, cut lengthwise along the centre of the feta cheese block to get two equal halves. Cut both halves vertically into equal strips, and then hold all the strips together and chop breadth-wise at regular intervals, to make chopped feta.

Refers to breaking Feta into small piece with your hands. Take a small ball of feta cheese and crumble it into tiny granules.

To make feta cheese cubes, place it on a chopping board and using a sharp knife, cut lengthwise along the centre of the feta cheese block to get two equal halves. Cut both halves vertically into equal strips (of approximately 1" in diameter), and then hold all the strips together and chop breadth-wise at regular intervals (of approximately 1" in diameter).

This requires grating the Feta slabs in a hand held grater. You can use grate it into thick or thin strands as per the recipe requirement. This grated cheese is fine in texture and is used for making baked dishes like au gratin or casseroles. Try hardening it a little by keeping it in the coldest section of the fridge for 30 minutes before grating.

Place the cheese block on a chopping board. With the knife slice the cheese horizontally from left end to right end into thin slices of desired thickness.

• Any Greek salad would be incomplete without the inclusion of Feta. Crumbled or cut into cubes, grilled or had as it, Feta is a popular snacking option, not just in the Mediterranean.
• Use generously in soups and sauces, in sandwiches, with toasted bread, in omelettes, on pizzas, soufflés, au gratins, fondues, shepherd's pie, macaroni and cheese, casseroles, etc.
etc.
• Feta cheese balls and poppers are also popular snacks.

How to store feta cheese

• Feta cheese is best when eaten fresh, so always check the expiry and manufacturing dates.
• If you are not consuming it immediately, store Feta cheese in a brine or milk bath. The milk bath will reduce the saltiness and help keep the cheese moist and mild in flavour. Properly stored in brine or milk and refrigerated, feta cheese will last up to 3 months.
• Feta cheese is built for freezing. All cheeses, regardless of variety, should be well wrapped and kept in the warmest section of the refrigerator. (The refrigerator door is often one of the warmest spots).

Health benefits of feta cheese

Regardless of the type of milk used to create it, Feta cheese is a concentrated source of the nutrients naturally found in milk, including calcium and phosphorus and thus good for bone health. Feta cheese also contains small amount of other essential nutrients such as  zinc, riboflavin and potassium. Feta cheese is also easier to digest. It is a dense source of high quality protein and low in fat, thus suitable for weight watchers. However, one nutritional drawback of this reduced-fat cheeses is that they are usually higher in sodium than other full-fat natural cheese. So people with hypertension and heart disease need to monitor its consumption very closely.