Feta Cheese - Why are so many brands different?

Yesterday I was perusing my fridge deciding what to make for dinner. I recently acquired a greek cookbook that is overwhelming huge, but has great recipes - "Vefa's Kitchen". Leafing through I realized I still had some leftover phyllo from a cookdate with another chef friend. That day we made a pie out of butternut, squash, bacon and kale. It was delicious. So I was thinking why not make Spanakopita. I try to get a piece every time we eat Greek. But it's probably just as easy to make at home. After a visit to Trader Joe's, my daughter and I were ready to begin our quest for the perfect spinach pie.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take a 16 ounce bag of frozen spinach. Cook for about 5 minutes and drain well. Add to it, 1 cup chopped scallions, 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill, 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, 3 tablespoons melted clarified butter, 1 container (16 ounces) of feta cheese, crumbled, 2 eggs, salt and pepper, to taste. Mix well.

Take an 8 x 8" baking pan (we used a glass pyrex one) and spray with cooking spray. Lay 6 - 8 pieces of phyllo at the bottom. Make sure to brush each layer lightly with olive oil. Add the spinach mixture and then place 6 - 8 layers of phyllo on top. Again, brush each layer lightly with olive oil. Fold in the edges all around, and then spritz with a bit of water (not too much). This will help the crust crisp up nicely.

Bake for 35 - 40 minutes. Watch carefully as the dough can brown too much. Cool for 10 -15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Our pie was truly delicious and there is not one piece left today. Even the leftovers were great.

So, I pondered the varying tastes of feta depending upon the manufacturer. The Trader Joe's feta was delicious. Creamy, with a mild tart taste. It was so delicious I don't think I'll ever be able to buy a supermarket brand again. It did say it was imported from Greece...and it was in a brine. I'm drooling just thinking about how awful it is that we used all of it for the pie. Well, I guess I'll have to make another trip to TJ's. I am thinking of a nice Greek Salad with Kalamata Olives at the end of the week!