Feta-I loved it the first time I tasted it. White, salty, and a taste unlike anything I could describe. It became part of my pantheon of cheeses. I discovered it was healthier than a lot of other cheeses, too. Lower fat.

When I moved to Sunnyvale, I found a local deli (Attari) that sold a ethnic type of feta that put the supermarket Athenos brand of feta to shame. This deli feta was so much more powerful, the difference was like the difference between american cheese and sharp cheddar. Wow! I found out that the feta I was buying (because it was the cheapest of the three the deli sold) was BULGARIAN feta.

Attari sold Greek, French and Bulgarian Feta. I tried them all, and the Bulgarian remained my favorite. Of course, two years ago I moved to North Central Los Angeles. There is an even bigger ethnic market here. It's big enough to be a supermarket chain: Jon's. The Eastern meditterian population here is such that can maintain a chain like that. Even the gas station snack counters have olives, feta, and Halvah for sale. These folks know feta.

Now, at the deli counter at Jon's supermarket, they have more than Greek, French and Bulgarian feta. They have Roumanian, and I think 2 other varieties too. What a selection! I've been sticking to my Bulgarian, but I thought maybe the others might have merit.

I bought a half-pound of the Greek once, but my previous opinion was confirmed. It was chalkier, drier, and certainly not as powerful a flavor as the Bulgarian. I didn't even finish the half pound.

With that disappointment in mind, I thought I would find out more before I wasted money on the other types of feta. I looked up feta on the internet to find out what some other cheese-lover might have to say about feta from different regions.

This is the first thing I found. It's about feta, written by Bulgarians. Naturally, they agree with my assessment about the deliciousness of their cheese.

But this didn't tell me about the other varieties of feta. I looked further and was surprised to find that feta was a source of international conflict.

Now, this is interesting. The French, the Danes and the Germans are all arguing with Greece about who gets to make feta. Or at least who gets to call it feta. Where is Bulgaria, the winner of my taste test, in this debate?

Exactly nowhere. Bulgaria is not part of the European Union. Nor is Roumania, one of the feta varieties I have not tried yet. They have no place at the table for this debate.

Now, if I were to give my two cents to the cheese beaurocrats at the EU, I would say that it would be nice to know where the feta originates. The taste is completely different, coming for different palces. I haven't tried German or Danish feta, but I am sure they taste different. I'd like to know where my feta comes from, since it affects the taste. Naturally, you shouldn't tell those countries that they can't make feta at all (that seems to be what Greece wants to say). But if their feta is not as good as the others, then it will naturally not do so well as the other varieties. Free market will dictate the winner.