Tasting New Zealand fetas

Here’s a round-up of some of New Zealand’s feta cheeses. The wide scope of products, from north of Auckland to the bottom of the South Island, shows that feta making is alive and well right around the country! The last two cheeses in this tasting are not made in New Zealand, although I always assumed they were until I read the labels for this tasting. Shock! Horror! Galaxy Creamy Feta (Mainland) and Mainland Creamy Goats’ Milk Feta are both products of Denmark. Well, damn, they do tell us to read labels … but somehow I’d just never thought ‘Danish style’ meant made in Denmark. It’s even more confusing because the Mainland Crumbly Special Reserve Feta is a ‘Greek style feta’ but made in New Zealand.

Galaxy Creamy Feta is a staple in our house, as fussy daughter Ilaria prefers it over others. Does she care it’s made in Europe? Nope. Do I? Well, yes, maybe. We’ve got a really active cheese industry in New Zealand with lots of small cheesemakers entering the fray, and if we want to be able to enjoy some of the delights that this tasting showed up (the likes of Zany Zeus, Hohepa, Origin Earth, Cranky Goat and Blue River), we better buy their products or they’ll go down the gurgler. There’ll be no point complaining then.

There are many styles of feta from firm and dry to moderately creamy to very creamy. Some crumble, others flake, some are soft enough to squish on bread. Mass produced fetas seem to rely on salt for flavour. There’s nothing wrong with that – sometimes a dish is vastly improved by adding a sprinkle of salty feta. And if a feta is simply too salty to enjoy, soak it in cold water for 1 hour, or overnight, and leech out the salt. Artisan cheesemakers seem to draw more flavour out of the milk, developing tangy lemony, sweet boiled milk and rich cream and nutty flavours. These cheeses are a triumph and are best served on their own with nothing bar a glass of something decent.

Feta recipes Spring Burghul Salad 

Zany Zeus Classic Feta

• Made in Wellington New Zealand
• Cow’s milk, salt, natural rennet, culture
• Buttery cream colour
• Ripe cow’s milk aroma
• Texture firm, crumbly, agreeable
• Lovely taste of boiled cream and salt – quite a lot of salt – long lasting creamy flavour

Zany Zeus Creamy Feta

• Made in Wellington New Zealand
• Cow’s milk, salt, natural rennet, culture
• Buttery cream colour
• Pronounced rich cream aroma
• Texture soft crumbly, going to dry
• Taste, lemony and fresh at first, then rich cream flavour, good amount of salt which is integrated, well balanced, rich persistent creaminess like double cream, simply delicious

Hohepa Biodynamic Feta

• Made in Hawke’s Bay New Zealand
• Cow’s milk, vegetable rennet, culture
• Rich creamy white colour
• Smells of ripe cream and warm hay
• Texture dry and crumbly, but creamy finish in the mouth
• Lemony, nutty, boiled cream, lingering rich cream flavour, salt comes in at the end, but it’s well balanced

Blue River Tussock Creek Feta

• Made in Invercargill New Zealand
• Sheep’s milk, culture, vegetarian rennet
• Fresh white colour
• Aroma of milk and lemongrass
• Crumbly texture
• Sweet milk flavour with an underpinning nutty flavour, almost buttered almonds on the finish, with a delicious lemony tang

Origin Earth Sheep Feta

• Made in Hawke’s Bay New Zealand
• Sheep’s milk, culture, coagulant, brine
• Fresh white colour
• Smells milky, bit citrusy, ripe yoghurt undertones
• Texture firm but flakes nicely, like coconut ice on the teeth, slightly chalky but not unpleasant
• Pronounced salt flavour, mild tang, saltiness persists giving way to mild milky flavour

Mainland Crumbly Special Reserve Feta

• Product of New Zealand
• ‘Traditional Greek style feta’
• Milk type not specified, salt, culture, rennet, lipase
• Buttery cream colour
• Smelly feet on the nose
• Dryish firm texture, crumbly
• Salt in balance and not aggressive, a pleasant creaminess comes in at the end, but a strong tasting lingers, like a blue cheese on the finish, quite mature; a cheese with grunt

Talbot Forest Feta

• Made in Geraldine New Zealand
• Cow’s milk, culture, salt, vegetable rennet
• Creamy yellow colour
• Dryish but creamy, moisture in the little holes seems to burst out as you eat it
• Saltiness quite prevalent but it’s not integrated and doesn’t appear to go right through the cheese, but rather as if it has been soaked in salt, creamy finish

Longbush Feta

• Made in Gisborne, New Zealand
• Cow’s milk, lactis culture, whey, salt, vegetable coagulant
• Buttery colour
• Mild citrus aroma
• Texture soft and crumbly
• Lingering ripe fruit acidity with some bitterness present

Cranky Goat Feta

• Made in Marlborough New Zealand
• Goat’s milk, salt, vegetable rennet and culture
  White
• Aroma of ripe yoghurt, notes of citrusy grass
• Texture slightly chalky, not unpleasant
• Milky flavour at first then some bitterness – you can almost taste the meadows, with wild greens and herbaceous notes – there’s a mild creaminess to finish, salt in balance

Galaxy Creamy Feta (Mainland)

• Product of Denmark
• Milk type not specified, salt, enzyme (non animal rennet) cultures
• Creamy white colour
• Boiled milk aroma
• Soft creamy texture, spreadable
• Immediately salty, nice creaminess kicks in, background of fresh hay, persistent salt, then finishing with strong boiled sweet milk flavour

Mainland Creamy Goats’ Milk Feta (spelling as on product)

• Product of Denmark
• Creamy Danish style goat’s milk feta
• Goat’s milk, salt, cultures, enzyme (non animal rennet)
• Creamy white colour
• Mild boiled milk aroma
• Stucco-like appearance, flakes, can be spread but doesn’t hold together
• Upfront salt which hangs around to the end but finishes with a little creamy sweetness