Iratxe Smoked Idiazabal D.O. Iratxe Cheese wedge 275 grs. approx.
This cheese with Denomination of Origin Idiazabal is made with raw and whole milk from sheep of the Latxa and Carranza breeds, native to the Basque Country. It undergoes a maturation process of at least 2 months. It is a cylindrical cheese, with noticeably flat faces. It has a hard, clean rind, pale yellow in color. The paste is compact and varies in color from white to yellowish ivory and may have small eyes irregularly distributed. Its fat content is equal to or higher than 45%.
The flavor of Idiazabal is intense, broad ("mouth-filling"), while being balanced and characteristic. A clean, consistent flavor with a marked "sheep's matured milk" character and some natural rennet flavor.
The smoking of Idiazabal cheese is optional and takes place at the end of ripening. The practice of smoking the cheese is widespread in Urbasa and Entzia. In other places it is not the custom to smoke the cheeses. Depending on the wood used and the smoking time, different organoleptic characteristics are obtained. Idiazabal cheese smoked for 2 to 5 months is soft and creamy. It is smoked just before being marketed, using birch, beech, cherry or hawthorn wood for six hours in an oven. Its smoky flavor is mild enough to fill the mouth without masking the flavor of the cheese itself. Its aroma is strong, perfumed and very pleasant. It is a hard pressed cheese. Its color tends to brownish ochre or caldera
Idiazabal cheese can be served in appetizers or in desserts, the latter being the final dish in cider house menus, accompanied by fresh cheese and quince jelly, etc. In fact, in preparations of all kinds, but above all accompanied with some nuts, a good cider or a good wine.
Provenance
Zamudio, Bizkaia, Euskadi.
Bizkaia, Euskadi
The Latxa Sheep
The Latxa Sheep
The LATXA SHEEP is a small, rustic animal. A milking ewe that produces a limited quantity of milk but of great quality. The cheese made from this milk stands out for its high calcium content, which makes Idiazabal a suitable food to prevent osteoporosis. Perhaps less known is its role in the prevention of dental caries by preventing the growth of some of the microorganisms that cause it. This property is due to its low carbohydrate content and to the fact that it increases saliva secretion
The origin is in nature. For more than eight thousand years, shepherds and sheep have followed the old routes determined by the seasons, in order to take advantage of a natural food that follows an unchanging cycle.
Format: Vacuum-packed wedge of 275 grs. approx.
