Dairy

Kefalotyri

Kefalotyri is a hard Greek sheep’s-milk cheese (sometimes sheep–goat), pale yellow and firm enough for grating or dry frying. Salted and aged for several months, it develops a sharp, salty, faintly sweet-sheep flavour with a dry, compact paste that squeaks slightly when young and turns more brittle and piquant with time—closer to a Mediterranean pecorino than to soft brined feta. Grate over pasta and vegetable pies, cube for meze, or fry thick slices as saganaki until the edges blister and the centre softens without collapsing into a puddle. Prefer pure sheep when labelled for fuller fat and longer finish. Keep cool and wrap cut faces; the high salt content preserves well but the paste can dry if left open.

Also known as: Sheep Kefalotyri