| Kefalotyri | |
| Country: | Greece, Cyprus |
| Source: | sheep or goat (or both) |
| Texture: | hard |
| Aging: | 3 months or more |
Kefalotyri or kefalotiri (el|κεφαλοτύρι) is a hard, salty white cheese made from sheep milk or goat's milk (or both) in Greece and Cyprus. A similar cheese, Kefalograviera, also made from sheep or goat milk (or both), is sometimes sold outside Greece and Cyprus as Kefalotyri.[1] Depending on the mixture of milk used in the process, the color can vary between yellow and white.
A very hard cheese, kefalotyri can be consumed as is, fried in olive oil for a dish called saganaki, or added to foods such as pasta dishes, meat, or cooked vegetables, and is especially suited for grating.[2] It is also used along with feta cheese in the vast majority of recipes for spanakopita, though sometimes substituted with the broadly similar Italian-derived cheeses Romano or Parmesan. This is a popular and well-known cheese, establishing its roots in Greece during the Byzantine era.[3] It can be found in some gourmet or speciality stores in other countries. Young cheeses take two to three months to ripen. An aged kefalotyri, a year old or more, is drier with a stronger flavour, and may be eaten as a meze with ouzo, or grated on food.[4]
Kefalotyri is a compound of el|κεφαλί :, meaning head, and el|τυρί : meaning cheese. This may be a reference to the headlike shape of the cheese wheel.
