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Tirokafteri

Τυροκαυτερή (tirokafteri) · Ktipiti · Htipiti · Kopanisti

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A Greek spread of feta cheese and hot chilli, sometimes with roasted peppers, yogurt or oregano, eaten with warm pita as part of a meze.

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Photograph of Tirokafteri.

Cheese that is pounded hot

Tirokafteri is a Greek cheese spread. Its name joins the Greek words for cheese and for hot, and the spread is a cheese mixed with hot pepper. The same spread is also known as ktipiti, from the verb for beating, and as htipiti or kopanisti. The names describe the same kind of food, and the sources read do not give a separate history for each.

The base is feta, sometimes mixed with other soft white cheeses. Hot peppers, such as the red cherry pepper, supply the heat. Roasted peppers, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, yogurt and oregano are the other ingredients the sources list, and no single version uses all of them.

Sources for this section

How it is made

The feta is crumbled and mixed with the chopped chilli. Olive oil is worked in to soften the spread, and lemon juice brightens it. Roasted pepper, garlic and yogurt are added in some versions to change the body and the flavour.

The sources read give no quantities, no holding temperature and no shelf life for tirokafteri. Because the spread is a fresh dairy product, a cook should check storage guidance from a food-safety source.

Sources for this section

Eating it

Tirokafteri is eaten as part of a mezze platter, or on its own with slices of warm pita bread. The sources read describe it as eaten within the wider meze table.

It is a different preparation from the preserved chilli pastes of the region. Its heat comes from fresh or dried chilli pounded into the cheese, not from a long fermentation.

Sources for this section

History

Tirokafteri is documented in modern Greek cookbooks; its origin and first date are not established by the sources read. Its name means cheese-hot in Greek.

Ingredients

FetaCrumbled. Some versions mix feta with other soft white cheeses.
Amount not stated
Quantity not given in the source read.
Hot red chilli pepperRed cherry pepper is named in the source; chopped or pounded.
Heat is set to taste.
Roasted pepper (optional)Roasted and peeled; optional.
Amount not stated
Olive oil
Amount not stated
Quantity not given in the source read.
Lemon juice (optional)
Amount not stated
Garlic (optional)
Amount not stated
Yogurt (optional)Strained Greek-style yogurt; optional.
Amount not stated

Method

  1. Crumble the feta and mash it until it is smooth or lightly textured.
  2. Add the chopped hot pepper, and roasted pepper if used.
  3. Beat in olive oil and lemon juice, and yogurt or garlic if the recipe calls for them, until the spread holds together.
  4. Serve with warm pita as a meze.

Places

Greece

Traditional use · Country evidence

A Greek spread eaten in mezze; the source gives no locality or date.

See Greeceon the mapLocation source 1 →

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