Prince of Persian Fetta

Jar cheese.

A few years ago, I was introduced to Persian Fetta. Um, let me just say, I played Prince of Persia for years as a child. If they could have only told me about the fetta they were hiding there, I would have tried so hard not to fall on those spikes and make it to the end of the game (for what, I can only presume, would have been a room full of cheese).

Nothing says obscure cheese references like an 80s platform game on repeat...

In the world of stored cheeses, Persian Fetta falls into a casually-monikered genus that I refer to as “Jar Cheese” – a delicious dairy product that comes preserved in some form of delightful olive oil, forever stewing in its own glory.

A dear friend came over last week and gifted me with a jar of Meredith Dairy Goat Cheese with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Fresh Herbs and Garlic.

She also gave me the gift of “this is the happiest day of my life”.

It is so deliciously soft. It is dripping in really tasty olive oil (which oozes out over the plate and your fingers as you eat it) and the flavours of the herbs and garlic have soaked down to the very centre of the cheese. I really don’t know what you couldn’t use this cheese for.

Seriously. It’s the kind of cheese that your partner will find you cradling in the bed in the middle of the night. And as you hold the jar and whisper sweet nothings into the glassy interior, cooing over the little cubes of joy in their suspended yumination, just remember to pay it forward.

Gift someone their very own jar cheese, and you will not be sorry.

And as a bonus, you can use the oil afterwards for cooking, drizzling over bread, or just plain drinking.

Cause there’s nothing classier than drinking a jar of cheese oil as you weep with joy.

An Appetite for Instruction: Cooking with Goat's Cheese

So cheese blogs aren’t just about eating cheese by itself on a plate. In your room. Under the covers. With the lights off. 

No, cheese blogs should be about the celebration of cheese in all its forms. This belief was heartily affirmed when I enjoyed a lovely lunch today with a blogging-and-cheese-loving friend of mine. I ordered some kind of pie, and accompanying it was a Greek salad with hearty chunks of fet(t)a. Each piece, my friends, was so chumpy you could carve it.

Anyhoo, this cheesexperience was so wonderful (“Cheese totally fits with every meal!” – “I know right?”) that I decided to share one of my favourite recipes with you peeps.

Introducing: 

Spaghetti Brocetta with So Much Goat's Cheese

- 400g Pancetta (cut to bacony thickness, either spicy or regular).

- 1 head of broccoli.

- At least, I’d say, 5 cloves of garlic.

- Some really good olive oil.

- 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes (250g ish).

- 1 packet of spaghetti.

- So much goat's cheese. So very much.


 1. Cut the pancetta into little squares (1-2cm in size) and fry them off on a medium heat in a large and deepish frypan. Enjoy aromas where appropriate.

2. Cut the broccoli into small florets and throw them in with the pancetta so they take on the flavour. Add some olive oil here if it starts to dry out (which it will). So…add the oil. Turn the heat down a bit.
3. Finely chop the garlic and add it to the pan (with a dash more olive oil).
4. Halve the cherry tomatoes (and try to avoid getting sprays of tomato innards in your eyes. Good luck). Add half of the quantity of cherry tomato halves to the pan, turn the heat down low and let it simmer away.

Did someone say "simmering"?

Oh wait. You should probably cook pasta while you’re doing this. Um…

5. Cook spaghetti. There are instructions on the packet. Follow them. They’ll know what to do.
6. When things are looking delicious and nicely incorporated in your frypan, add the remaining half of your cherry tomatoes. Then turn off the heat. The frypan will still have some residual heat to warm the tomatoes while you—
7. Drain your pasta and coat it in really nice olive oil (the kind you get for some crazy price per 300ml bottle at farmers’ markets in the country. Really farmer? Is it that good? Yes. Yes it is.)
8. Put your pasta in a bowl, add a couple spoonfuls of the sauce (which should be chunky and not too runny – like a good provincial Italian creation).

And now, most importantly…

9. Add SO MUCH GOAT'S CHEESE. Like, an uncomfortable amount. It’ll be awkward. Your partner will say, “Hey Claire, maybe you should take it easy on the chevre?” And you’ll say, “Cram it Mr. Boring!”

10. Enjoy your meal. It’s so freakin’ good.

So much!