Feta, or, one cheese's quest for greatness

The eponymous hero of this post starts off, like all good protagonists, with a humble beginning -as a smooth, clean character to be moulded according to the whim of its creator.

It sets off on its journey to greatness with some easy tasks.  First, to enliven the lunchtime of a bored office worker.  Before I went freelance, one of my favourite packed lunches in winter was a lentil, roasted red pepper and feta salad.  Pah, this task is almost too easy though - a forgotten stale biscuit in a desk drawer can cheer up a cog in the corporate machine.

So, our hero moves on to slightly more ambitious salads, for example, this one with pomegranate and couscous from Jo Pratt's In the Mood for Food:

Summer, innit.

Yeah, that's still too easy for feta though.  You can put anything in a salad (although see my 'Warning' post for a caveat to this wild statement).  

Onwards our hero strives, striking forward into the more dangerous lands of dinnertime.  Still not wishing to push his luck, as all good heroes are reluctant ones after all, he allows himself simply to be crumbled over roasted aubergine:

Also with softened onions, chilli and mint - another Diana Henry job.

Well, this is working ok, he thinks to himself, what if I marinate myself with some garlic and chilli and get sprinkled over baked sweet potato?

Oh, and just a little bit of coriander too.

Getting a little more comfortable in his role as saviour of tastebuds, he realises he has barely been stretching himself.  What must his loyal followers think of him, he hasn't even moved away from being eaten cold!  Time to warm up then, and to join forces with that most compliant of compatriots - pasta.  First, he tries an alliance with mint and peas, which results in a refreshing, yet comforting partnership.  But now our hero is getting tired of being comforting - he wants the world on a plate, and goes crazy with some prawns and lemon:

Cheese and fish?!  What is this madness?!  It's genius, he cries, genius I tell you!  Heady with success, our hero seeks out more and more outrageous comrades - feta can do anything, it's the champion of the cheese world, it can work with any foodstuff!  

But oh, the horror - baked beetroot, chickpeas, dressing.  How the mighty are fallen, what oily slime is this, even without the orange?  (And we all know how that turned out before.)

Then, as in all good stories, a wise old sage appears (in this tale, the sage is played by Nigel Slater).  Back to your roots, feta, says the sage.  But I still want to prove myself, still want to show what I can do!  Ok, feta, one last chance - take some thyme and go somewhere warm for a bit.

And so, as the oven cools and the wholemeal wrap tucks feta up in a bed of lettuce, he knows he has done the right thing.  Experimentation is a fine thing when you're learning, but stay true to your calling and you will always have a happy ending.