Ossau-Iraty

This French semi-firm cheese has a nutty flavor with a gentle creamy richness that is quite pleasing. Its rind is edible with a slightly tart taste. The cheese has a soft, light ivory color with the fragrance of toasted hazelnuts with olive and fig. It is both delicately sweet, fruity and savory.

As special as Ossau-Iraty is, it’s superbly versatile and could be considered an every day, table cheese. It’s perfect for any cheeseboard and can be paired with a variety of breads, jams, or honey.

Slice it and put it on a sandwich or combine it with apple slices for a great afternoon snack.

The cheese is from the Western Pyrenes from France and it is aged for a minimum of three months.

An ancient cheese made near its namesake rivers in the Basque region of France and produced from the milk of Pyrenees sheep, Ossau-Iraty has been made for 3,000 years, and is one of the only two sheep’s milk cheeses to earn the coveted AOC status (the other one is Roquefort).

The AOC controls the production and breed of sheep used, Manech and Basco-Béarnaise, but expressions still vary slightly through the region depending on the individual producer. Ossau-Iraty is made from milk from more than 500 small family farms which circle the dairy.

The sheep farmers still practice transhumance, whereby the sheep are taken up the slopes of the Pyrenees mountains to graze on lush grasses and flowers during fertile summer months, and taken back down in the winter. It is for this reason that the cheese made from summer milks are highly prized for their excellent flavor.

Each wheel of this wonderful sheep’s milk cheese is aged for at least 80 days in wooden cellars and remains under constant supervision and care for the duration of the aging process. Each wheel is scrubbed, sometimes daily, in order to encourage the growth of flora that makes up the crust. The result of this care is a delectable cheese with an oily texture that has the perfect amount of acid.