Persian Fetta isn’t Persian. And it’s spelled Fetta rather than Feta, supposedly to distinguish it from the Greek cheese that the EU is so keen to protect with a geographic indication. In fact, Persian Fetta is a distinctively Australian cheese, first produced by the Yarra Valley Dairy in Victoria in 1995.

The cheese is made from cow’s milk, rather than the sheep’s and goat’s milk used for Greek feta. It’s softer and creamier than traditional feta and, although the initial process involves brining, it is not dry salted. The cheese is then marinated in oil, herbs and spices.

Many articles attribute the development of Persian Fetta to Mary Mooney, who began experimenting with cheese making at her Yering, Victoria, property as a way to add value to the family’s dairy farming operation. However, cheese guru Will Studd credits the cheesemaker, Richard Thomas, with its invention. He was evidently inspired by the custom of desert people in Iran (formerly Persia) of storing cheese in jars of oil. Hence the name.

Thomas, who was also instrumental in the establishment of many other specialty cheese companies, including Milawa, Meredith and Tarago River, spent a year working with Yarra Valley Dairy to perfect the cheese. In addition to olive oil, their original Persian Fetta marinade included garlic, black peppercorns, fresh thyme, bay leaves and a mix of spices. This was followed by a spicier version containing chilli and another flavoured with dill and chives.

Other cheesemakers soon jumped on the Persian fetta bandwagon. Yarra Valley Dairy had registered the product name but, in a subsequent lawsuit against the Lactos company, a judge ruled that the spelling of fetta was not enough to set it apart from the generic name for the category, and that “Persian”, being a geographical description, could not be owned as a trademark. Yarra Valley Dairy lost its case, and there are now many brands available, including Woodside, Southern Sky, Melbourne Cheese Company and Thomas Dux.