Something in the brine make the cheese yellow (turmeric, paprika), but likely the feta was freshly made with grass-fed goat's milk.

Ah, thanks Mimi. This wasn't as yellow as tumeric or paprika would have made it. It was the color of butter when it's been whipped in the mixer for 3 -5 minutes, like when you make cookies. The flavor was much smoother, less sharp. The texture was creamy. I may have to do much taste-testing to see if I can find something similar. :-)

That's not like any feta I've ever had either, so I'd be curious. I'd email and ask them -- they list their email addr in the 'About' section of their website.

The white crumbly stuff is probably mass produced U.S. cow's milk feta.

What you had sounds more like "real" feta. Bulgarian or Greek, grass fed, sheep's milk cheese. Feta comes in soft, medium and hard.

...that can only be sold to a Tibetan monk when the moon is full.

And costs about $30 per pound. <lol>

Mike, if plllog is correct as to the type, I suspect you are correct as to the price!

I buy Bulgarian feta, and it is cheaper than domestic and also a bit creamier and less crumbly. I get it at my favorite Lebanese/Syrian market, and they have many brands to choose from, and so it is difficult to decide what to buy. I have not noticed whether they offer soft, medium, and hard, but I will check that next time. The last one I bought was Karoun brand.

Peche responded to my email! Yay! As you would expect, it was made by a small farm close to New Orleans, but it might as well have been Andean goatherders selling only to Tibetan monks. I called the farm to see if they would consider shipping to me or if there were a chance that it was sold in a local market. The answer to both was a very polite "I'm sorry, no." They have sold their goat herd and given up making goat-milk cheese. Apparently the cheese at Peche last week was the last of the last. Is there an emoticon for "crestfallen"?

You can orderartisanal feta cheese from Sonoma County, California - I met the cheesemaker at a brunch hosted by a chef who teaches at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, and she brought some of her cheese to the party. I remember that it was very creamy and tasty, but I have not sampled it recently. I think she sold at the Farmers' Market in Hollywood from time to time. There are a lot of artisanal cheesemakers in Vermont as well, but I do not know much about those.

It's been much longer since I've been to New Orleans, but I used to go there every year to visit friends on my way to or from Yucatan.

I used to be lucky enough to live in a town with a fabulous market where I could buy the Bulgarian feta. It was creamy and much less sharp than the average feta I get at the store. Also, if you liked that cheese and don't care too much for labels, some goats milk cheese (not labeled feta) also has the taste and texture you describe. Not sure about the color, but I know grass fed dairy often has that yellow color, at least what I've seen at the markets.

Isn't that the way it always goes, bbstx? At least you now know that the goat milk version is the one you prefer. :)

May want to try Ezra's feta. It is almost like eating tangy butter. Just lovely. I also love Bulgarian feta when I want something sharper.

So, is feta from a goat or a sheep?

Yes.

Goat, cow and sheep. My favourite is Sheep's feta.

Thanx ann, I will look for sheep feta. Goat leaves me with an aftertaste I don't care for

I bought goat milk feta at the Farmers' Market today and really like the flavor, although I normally buy sheep's milk feta.
Lars

I personally hate all goat diary products. Love goat meat and eat it regularly but I have a problem with smelly cheeses. I can't do blue cheese either. I was abused by Stilton as a child so will never touch it:-)

In its defense, goat feta does not seem to have that barnyard front note that is so prevalent in all goat cheeses that I have tried. So, I have had feta which is a mix of goat, sheep and cow and they were all lovely!

Goat cheese varies greatly in flavor and consistency, due to aging and also the feed and conditions the goats were raised in/on. At least that has been my experience. I don't have much experience with sheep's milk cheese. I have curtailed my cheese eating and the two kinds I use most regularly now are goat and aged parmesean. You get used to the flavor with goat cheese if it is not too distinct.

I prefer sheep's milk cheese to goat. There's always something redolent and goaty with the goat's milk :) I think sheep cheeses are gentler.

Funny you say it was like cream cheese, because we just had the same experience with some I bought recently. It was by Ezra Dairy. It came in a blue tub with the brine and the cheese suspended in it on a plastic older. We are Greek and found it to not be feta-like at all, but it was still good. It was like cream cheese, not crumbly at all. I mixed it into a salad and it almost dissolved into the dressing. It was very good actually, but not at all like traditional feta. If I remember correctly, it was cow's milk.