French P'Tit Basque Cheese A Gift From The Pyrenees Mountains

P'Tit Basque or Petite Basque is a French sheep's milk cheese that is produced in the Basque region of the Pyrenees Mountains that form the border with Spain. The famous Ossau-Iraty cheese and Idiazabal cheese are also produced in this area. This mountainous region is the home to both goat and sheep herders but it is the sheep cheeses that are the most noteworthy. The French word for sheep is brebis and the cheeses are known as "fromage de brebis". Traditionally, shepherds made this small cheese from a little curd set aside after milking their ewes. It is still hand-made from pure ewe's milk using the same traditional methods established by local shepherds centuries ago. The cheeses in this region are produced from December to July and coincide with the natural fertility cycle of the native sheep herds. After late July all milking and cheese making comes to an end. During the late summer and fall the sheep herds migrate to the highland pastures and graze on wildflowers and mountain herbs. During the winter months they are fed sweet grass and hay. This cycle of grazing assures that the animals have a consistent supply of quality food. In turn high quality cheese is produced from their milk.

P'Tit Basque was first produced commercially in 1997 and is an unpasteurized pressed curd, uncooked, semi-soft cheese. The curds are pressed into small round molds and dried. Then they are exposed to a two hour brine bath and allowed to age for about seventy days in cold room storage areas or caves. Before leaving the storage areas the cured cheeses are coated with a thin plastic skin that keeps them from drying out and to prevent the appearance of mold on the natural rind. Each small cylindrical cheese weighs about 1- 1/4 to 1- 1/2 lbs. This sheep milk cheese has a fat content of about 45%.

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Tasting: The interior paste has a wonderful taffy-like mouth feel. It's appearance is smooth and slightly oily with a light yellow butter color and a mild caramel aroma. Since P'Tit Basque is only aged for seventy days it has a mild flavor. However, it's taste is very enjoyable and will be olivey with a mild mixture of nuts and fruit. P'tit Basque is perfect to start your sheep milk cheese adventures. From here you can move onto more aged sheep cheeses like the famous Ossau-Iraty, Manchego and Pecorino Toscano which have more complex and sheepy flavors. All in all this little cheese will not disappoint you with its mild flavor and aroma. If you can not find P'tit Basque good substitutes are Idiazabal and Ossau Iraty.   

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Serve P'Tit Basque for lunch with sliced tomatoes, olive oil and a hearty bread or sliced on a sandwich made with French ham. It also goes well with black cheery preserves or sliced apples and pears.

Wine pairing: Beaujolais, Grenache, Burgundy, Bordeaux or Madeiran