Greek Fried Feta Cheese & Honey Sauce

Greek feta cheese is often made from sheep's milk, but sometimes it is made in combination with some goat's milk. It is stored in brine, but there are also prepackaged containers of about 7ounces to about 10 ounces, also with the brine included. Greek honey, if you have access to it, "often" has a bit of a thyme flavor to it. If you like buying things online, you'll definitely find Greek honey there, at varying prices, from modest to expensive. 

It seems the basic idea for this dish originated on the Greek island of Crete, the largest of the Greek islands and one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean. The fried cheese will have a slightly crispy, crunchy crust.

 

Ingredients (about 4 servings as appetizers):

 

7 to 9 ounces Greek feta 

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup honey

pinch of dried oregano leaves

1/2 teaspoon orange juice

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

 

On a plate or in a shallow bowl, mix the pepper into the flour. Leave the cheese slightly damp and put it into the flour to coat the cheese; shake off any loose excess. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a skillet, then fry the cheese for about 2 minutes per side until lightly browned (you don't want it too dark or burned) and a slightly crisp "shell" develops. Add the honey to a microwave safe cup or bowl, add the pinch of dried oregano leaves, 1/2 teaspoon orange juice and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice; microwave for 20 seconds. Serve the just fried feta with the warm honey sauce drizzled over it. 

 

 

The whole slice of fried feta ...

 

WORD HISTORY:

Acrobat-This word is related to several words, with the first part related to "acme," a word borrowed by English from Greek, to "acne," a word borrowed from Latin, which had it from Greek. The second part is distantly related to "come," a word from the Germanic roots of English. The first part of "acrobat" goes back to Indo European "ak," which had the notion, "be pointed, be sharp." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek "akros," meaning "at the top point" (noun: "akron," "the highest point, the peak"). The second part goes back to Indo European "gwa" and its extended form "gwem," which meant "to walk, to go." The Indo European "gw" was rendered in Greek as 'b,' thus giving Greek the verb "bainein," also meaning "to walk, to tread, to step, to go." These parts gave Greek "akrobátis" (also transliterated as "akrovátis"?), which meant "rope walker, one who walks on tiptoes;" thus also, "tightrope walker." "Apparently" borrowed directly from Greek by French as "acrobate." English borrowed the word from French in the first half of the 1800s (circa 1830?).