Dairy
Kefalograviera
Κεφαλογραβιέρα
Also called κεφαλογραβιέρα, kefalograviera cheese
A hard, yellow Greek cheese made from sheep's milk, sometimes with a little goat's milk, with small irregular holes. It sits between kefalotyri and graviera: firm enough to grate, but it softens in a hot pan without running.
Origin
Western Macedonia, Epirus, Aetolia-Acarnania and Evrytania in Greece, where it has protected designation of origin status. It is a young cheese by Greek standards, developed in the 1960s.
Flavour
Salty, sharp and nutty, with a sheepy tang that grows stronger with age.
How to use it
Cut it into thick slabs and fry it for saganaki, grate it over giouvetsi, pastitsio and pasta, or eat it in cubes with ouzo. Kefalotyri is the harder, saltier choice for grating; pecorino Romano is the nearest Italian stand-in.
Storage
Wrap it in waxed paper and then loosely in a bag, and keep it in the fridge for several weeks. If mould appears on the surface, cut it away with about 1 cm to spare; the rest of a hard cheese like this is fine.
Recipes using it
Kleftiko
Κλέφτικο
Lamb on the bone with garlic, lemon, oregano, potatoes and a little cheese, sealed in baking paper and slow-baked until it falls off the bone.
Easy
Giouvetsi
Γιουβέτσι
Lamb braised in tomato with cinnamon, then baked with orzo in the same dish until the pasta drinks up the sauce. Grated hard cheese on top.
Easy
Saganaki
Σαγανάκι
A thick slab of hard Greek cheese dusted in flour and fried in olive oil until crusted outside and soft inside. Lemon, pepper and bread. Two minutes a side.
Easy
