Goodbye Feta

During my recent trip to Greece and Mt Athos in particular, I was reintroduced to the marvelous taste of feta cheese. I’ve always liked the strong distinctive taste of feta but like most people only had it on occasion as a garnish on salad.  A sprinkle of the salty curds can transform a ordinary salad into something of real substance. 

While on Mt Athos I had feta not simply as a garnish but as a side dish, thickly sliced often served at both morning and evening meals.  Each monastery had a slightly different version probably homemade, some quite mild, hardly salted.  Eating feta in such large bites is vastly different than eating salad style, overwhelming the taste buds, lingering and satisfying in ways that few other cheeses can.

Ever since I’ve been back hardly a day goes by without a bit of feta.  My current favorite is scrambled eggs with feta.. fabulous!  Yet, beyond taste is the memory it evokes of my time on Mt Athos.  For me it will always be associated with the trip.  As we embark on Great Lent next week (Orthodox Easter is not until May 1st this year) it will be seven weeks of fasting from dairy, meat, eggs, and fish.  Guess what I’ll be having for breakfast May 2nd?