feta
A brined white cheese traditionally made from sheep's milk or a sheep-and-goat blend, cured and stored in a salty liquid brine that gives it its characteristic tang and crumbly-yet-creamy texture. Used as a savory, salty finishing element -- crumbled over salads and vegetables, baked until soft, or eaten in slabs -- rather than melted into a dish the way a cooking cheese would be.
Buying guidance
Look for feta packed in brine (a block sitting in liquid, not shrink-wrapped dry) whenever possible -- the brine keeps it moist and prevents the surface from drying out and turning chalky, and cheese sold dry-wrapped has usually already lost that texture. Traditional Greek feta (made from sheep's milk or a sheep-and-goat blend) has a firmer, tangier, more complex flavor than the cow's-milk versions common in the US, which taste milder and closer to a plain salty white cheese -- check the label for "sheep's milk" or "Greek" if the traditional flavor matters. Pre-crumbled feta sold in a tub is convenient but drier and blander, since it's packaged without brine and often coated in powder to keep the pieces from clumping.
Substitutions
- Cow's-milk feta in place of sheep's-milk -- milder and less tangy, with a softer texture; fine for a subtler flavor but won't fully replicate the traditional taste.
- Goat cheese -- similarly tangy but softer and creamier rather than firm and crumbly; works well where the tang matters more than the texture.
- A firm salty cheese like cotija, or a mild feta-style queso fresco -- less tangy and less creamy, but a reasonable stand-in for the salty, crumbly role in a pinch.
Tips & common mistakes
Crumbling feta straight from a dry-wrapped block tends to produce a chalky, dry mouthfeel -- pieces cut from a block that's been sitting in its own brine stay noticeably creamier. Buying feta already crumbled trades moisture and flavor for convenience, since brine can't cling to the exposed surface area the same way once it's broken into small pieces.
Storage
Keep feta submerged in its brine (or a fresh saltwater brine made at home, roughly a tablespoon of salt per cup of water) in a sealed container in the fridge -- it keeps for several weeks this way, far longer than left dry-wrapped, and stays moist instead of drying out and hardening at the edges.