Mizithra

Mizithra is made from the whey left behind when feta or kefalotyri is drained, reheated with a little added sheep or goat milk until fresh curds rise, which puts it in the same by-product family as Italian ricotta. It exists in two quite different forms, and a recipe that calls for mizithra without saying which one it means is asking for trouble.

Fresh mizithra is soft, white, barely salted and faintly sweet. It fills Cretan cheese pies and the sweet sfakianopita, and it softens feta's salt in a savoury pie filling. The dried and aged version, xeri mizithra, is a hard salty grating cheese, and it is what goes over makaronia me mizithra and over tsouchti, the Maniot dish of pasta finished with cheese and eggs.

Drained ricotta is the usual substitute for the fresh cheese and does the job, though it is milder and wetter, so it should sit in a sieve for twenty minutes before it goes anywhere near a pie filling. For the aged version there is no close match; a dry, salty pecorino gets nearer than anything else likely to be on a supermarket shelf.