Graviera

Graviera takes its name from an old mispronunciation of gruyere, reflecting a genuine Swiss cheesemaking influence on the Greek dairy industry in earlier centuries, though the cheese itself, made from sheep's milk or a mix of sheep and goat, is entirely its own thing rather than an imitation of the Swiss original. Crete and the island of Naxos both produce well-known, protected versions.

It sits between kefalotyri and a young hard cheese in character: firm enough to slice and grate, but with a sweeter, nuttier, less aggressively salty flavour than kefalotyri carries, which is part of why it is Greece's most popular cheese for eating on its own, on a meze plate, rather than purely as a cooking ingredient.

It is still a genuinely good melting and frying cheese in its own right, standing in for kefalotyri in a saganaki or grated over a baked pasta dish, and its milder flavour makes it a common introduction to Greek hard cheeses for anyone used to a sharper pecorino or parmesan.