Thursday, August 20, 2015

Day 232 - Authentic Greek Feta in Brine

 I’ve said it before and I will say it again – I am not ashamed.

I LOVE ME SOME FETA.

I am home alone – I had to come home and work a few days and leave my main man in Indianapolis.  So tonight I decided to splurge and treat myself with some really nice feta.

Here is the packaging for this fancy feta
At least, what I presumed would be nice feta.  I fell for the “it’s expensive so it must be good” trick (I like to think I do not usually fall for that…).  The feta we normally purchase at Trader Joe’s is $2.99 for 8 oz.  This feta was $6.49 for 10.5 oz – see – comparatively it was PRICEY!  (You can see the review of our normal TJ’s feta on day 105 of this blog.)

What the hell- put it on a credit card!
So this afternoon I was craving feta.  I neeeeeeeeeeeeded feta.  And really, as far as cravings go, if you are going to crave something, I think FETA is a mighty healthy craving, don’t you?  So I went straight to Trader Joe’s in Clarendon, VA to hook myself up!

Now, earlier in the day I was stuck in traffic.  Like, BAD Washington DC traffic.  So I had time to hear the news on NPR not once but two or three times.  So I kept hearing about the Prime Minister of Greece resigning today.  And you know, Greece is in a boat load of financial trouble.  That poor country is a messy mess!  So I guess what I am saying is, yes, I splurged and spent way more on feta than a girl needs to spend, but it was AUTHENTIC GREEK FETA from GREEEEEEEECE for heaven’s sake!  And if anyone needs my money, it is Greece, right?  So there.  Not only did I satisfy my craving, I helped out an entire economy with my purchase.  (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)

David taking the plunge in Koufonisia, Greece (2007)

Me swimming in Koufonisia, Greece - isn't the water beautiful???
So, was my splurge on this feta worth it?

Uh-huh.

This cheese is amazing!  It is a kick ass feta.  It comes in brine, which seems to ensure it is not dry and blecky like some fetas are.  However, the brine also means it can be MESSY, as evidenced by when I tried to pick it up after “closing” it (oops, it was not closed) to read the bottom of the container…  I splashed brine all over the counter. 

It has 2 chunks of feta in it - here I stood them up for you to see
This is what it is like when you open the tub











The thing I need to ding the rating on a bit for this product is the packaging.  It is super hard to OPEN.  You pull off a little hard plastic bit, then theoretically you can pull the lid off.  Maybe it is because I currently have long nails and need to cut them, but I had a really hard time getting the lid off.  I resorted to jamming a fork around until I could squeeze it open a bit.  And of course the whole time I was trying to rip the lid off, I was afraid the lid would POP off and give me a brine shower.

This totally satisfied my craving for feta.  Ahhhhh....  
I am glad I splurged.  Greece needs our help – go buy this feta.  J  Just be really careful opening and closing it. 

Price - $6.49

Rating – 4.75

9 comments:

  1. Always use a utensil to remove the feta from the brine and only put back unused feta that has not been touched by your fingers. This avoids contaminating the brine.

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  2. love the cheese ...hate how difficult it is to open the container! We typically resort to puncturing it with a knife or scissors! lol

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    1. AGREEEEEEEEEEEEED! I often resort to asking David to open it... I hate doing that, but once I get that feta container out of the fridge my mouth is watering and I NEED TO GET IN IT!

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  3. Best feta, worst container to open. I was hoping to find a better way when I googled. No luck.

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  4. This is not difficult to open. But maybe I found the "secret" sooner than the rest of you. In one of the corners the ridge under the lid is designed to break away leaving a place to easily pry the lid off.

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  5. Thank you. You're a genius. Just spent TIME with a pair of pliers even though I started in that obvious corner - I did not simply pry open the corner; I tried to pull the tab and that Does Not work.
    Simply pry up on that corner!
    Thanks again.

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  6. Yes! Thanks Larry. Simply used a dinner knife to break away the notched corner and the top came right off. ✅

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  7. I also love this feta and needed some Google help in finding the right way to open it. I believe the reason it’s so good is that it’s made from sheep’s milk the way true feta should be. Also, pre-crumbled cheeses have cellulose on them to keep the crumbles from sticking, which makes them dry and not as tasty!

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