Graviera, one of the most popular cheese, is made throughout Greece. On the mainland and Crete it is made mainly with sheep’s milk while in the Cyclades it is made only with cow’s milk. Graviera is a dense, semi-hard cheese with small, irregular holes; it is pale gold in color and its flavor recalls nuts and butter. The graviera cheeses made by the farmers’ cooperatives on Naxos and Tinos have Protected Designation of Origin (PDO, in Greek P.O.P) status; these cheeses are made exclusively with the milk of local livestock and matured locally. On Naxos, the graviera traditionally is salted by immersion in brine after setting; on neighboring Tinos (and Crete), the cheese is usually salted once it has dried. By the Tinos method, wheels of cheese are matured for at least three months on wooden shelves in pantries or cellars under controlled temperature and environmental conditions.