φέτα

Modern Greek féta comes from Italian fetta (slice), from Latin offa (a morsel, a piece). The word entered Greek during the period of Venetian and Genoese influence in the eastern Mediterranean, probably in the seventeenth century. The cheese itself is far older — brined white cheeses have been made in Greece for thousands of years. Homer's Odyssey describes the Cyclops Polyphemus making a cheese that sounds like feta. The cheese predates the word by millennia.

Feta is made from sheep's milk (or a mixture of sheep and goat's milk), formed into blocks, and aged in brine. The brining is what gives feta its crumbly texture and salty tang. The process varies by region — Macedonian feta, Thessalian feta, Peloponnesian feta all have distinct characters determined by local milk, bacteria, and climate. The word 'slice' does not begin to describe the complexity.

In 2002, the European Union granted feta Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. Only cheese made in specific regions of Greece, from sheep's and goat's milk, using traditional methods, can be called feta in the EU. Denmark, Germany, and France had all been making and selling 'feta' — they were forced to find new names. The legal battle over the word lasted over a decade. Greece won the word.

Outside the EU, the word feta is used freely. American, Canadian, and Australian cheesemakers sell 'feta' made from cow's milk in styles that bear little resemblance to the Greek original. The word has become generic in most of the world and protected in Europe. An Italian word for a slice, used in Greek for a cheese, governed by Brussels for a region.