Cheese Database

Beyaz peynir vs Feta

Beyaz peynir

Facts

Texture
Semi-soft
Type
Brined
Rind
No rind
Country
Turkey

Beyaz peynir is the everyday white cheese of Turkey, and the name simply means white cheese. Blocks are salted and kept in brine, so the paste stays moist, bright white, and free of a rind. Traditional production uses unpasteurized milk, and the cheese can range from a fresh mild curd to a firmer, sharper block. It stands with other white brine cheeses rather than with pressed yellow wheels. Shoppers across Turkey meet it in slices and in packed blocks.

Feta, field guide plate
Feta, photographed

Feta

Facts

Milk
Sheep
Texture
Semi-hard
Type
Brined
Rind
No rind
Country
Greece
Status
PDO

Feta is a brined cheese from Greece, and a protected name. The protected cheese is made from sheep's milk, or from sheep's milk with some goat's milk. It is not a cow's-milk cheese.