The Curious Story of Sardinian Feta
Crumbly, salty, and brined, 'Feta' is well-known to be a traditionally Greek cheese, with similar varieties of brined white cheese widespread across south-east Europe. Northern Sardinian is not one of the localities one expects to produce this versatile young cheese, and yet over the years the tradition has become so engrained for one creamery in particular, feta has become part of their core range of cheeses.
The 'feta migration' began during and following World War II, when numerous Greek cheesemakers fled to Sardinia, bringing the recipe with them. One of these cheesemakers, Christo Berdebes, born and raised on the Greek isle of Kefalonia, ended up in Thiesi in northern Sardinia, a town with a population of just over 3,000.
Panorama of Thiesi by Gianni Careddu
Family owned and operated Casa Fadda, for whom Berdebes worked for years, is the last remaining cheesemaker in the area to produce feta and other Greek cheeses. Casa Fadda's 'Bianco di Thiesi' Feta is made using Sardinian sheep milk with the addition of sheep's milk yoghurt for the fermentation process. Sheep milk of Sardinia is among the highest quality in the world, rivalling that produced in Greece and France.
During production, the feta is washed and re-washed, salted in brine, cut in small wedges and placed in beech wood barrels to rest. This process gives the cheese a firm crumbly texture and delicate salted flavour with a sharp finish. Incredibly versatile, it works well in salads, served with lightly toasted bread and extra virgin olive oil, baked with tomatoes or in numerous vegetarian recipes.
During production, the feta is washed and re-washed, salted in brine, cut in small wedges and placed in beech wood barrels to rest. This process gives the cheese a firm crumbly texture and delicate salted flavour with a sharp finish. Incredibly versatile, it works well in salads, served with lightly toasted bread and extra virgin olive oil, baked with tomatoes or in numerous vegetarian recipes.
Making cheese at at Casa Fadda
In addition to Sardinian Feta, Casa Fadda also produce Ovinforth - including special varieties of Drunk Ovinforth with Cannonau & Cagnulari wine and Ovinforth al Pistachio - award-winning Crablu and Blue Sard blue cheeses.