Idiazabal cheese
Encyclopedia
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
made from unpasteurized sheep milk
Sheep milk
Sheep's milk is the milk of domestic sheep. Though not widely drunk in any modern culture, sheep's milk is commonly used to make cultured dairy products. Well-known cheeses made from sheep milk include the Feta of Greece, Roquefort of France, Manchego from Spain, the Pecorino Romano , the Pecorino...
, usually from Latxa
Latxa
The Latxa is a breed of domestic sheep native to the Basque Country of Spain. Mostly contained within the provinces of Biscay, Gipuzkoa and Navarre, Latxa are dairy sheep whose unpasteurized milk is used to produce Idiazábal and Roncal cheeses. There are two sub-types of the breed, a dark-faced...
and Carranzana
Basco-béarnaise
The Basco-béarnaise is a domesticated breed of sheep originating in the Basque country. The breed was developed from Basque and Béarnaise sheep during the 1960s to be a single-purpose milk breed.-Origins:...
sheep in the Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
and Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. It has a somewhat smokey flavor, but is usually un-smoked.
The cheese is handmade and covered in a hard, dark brown, inedible rind
Rind
Rind may refer to:*Peel *Pork rind*Rind , a giantess in Norse mythology*Rind, Armenia, also Rrind*Rind et al. controversy, about a study on child sexual abuse*Rind , a tribe in Baluchistan...
. It is aged for a few months and develops a nutty, buttery flavour, eaten fresh, often with quince jam
Quince cheese
Quince cheese is a sweet, thick, quince jelly or quince candy.The recipe is probably of ancient origin; the Roman cookbook of Apicius, a collection of Roman cookery recipes compiled in the late 4th or early 5th century AD, gives recipes for stewing quince with honey.Historically marmalade was made...
. If aged longer, it becomes firm, dry and sharp and can be used for grating.
The Denomination of Origin for Idiazabal cheese was created in 1987 and defines the basic regulations for the product's manufacture. Typically, unpasteurized milk from latxa
Latxa
The Latxa is a breed of domestic sheep native to the Basque Country of Spain. Mostly contained within the provinces of Biscay, Gipuzkoa and Navarre, Latxa are dairy sheep whose unpasteurized milk is used to produce Idiazábal and Roncal cheeses. There are two sub-types of the breed, a dark-faced...
breed of sheep is used, although in some cases the D.O. permits the use of milk from Carranzana breed, from the Encartaciones in Biscay
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
. The D.O. also stipulates that the milk be curdled with the natural lamb rennet
Rennet
Rennet is a complex of enzymes produced in any mammalian stomach to digest the mother's milk, and is often used in the production of cheese. Rennet contains many enzymes, including a proteolytic enzyme that coagulates the milk, causing it to separate into solids and liquid...
, and permits external smoking of the cheese. The cheeses produced in the following towns in accordance with all the D.O. regulations, are therefore also protected by the Idiazabal D.O. : Urbia, Entzia, Gorbea
Gorbea
Gorbea or Gorbeia is a mountain and massif, the highest in Biscay and Alava , with a height of 1,481 m AMSL. The massif covers a wide area between the two provinces. The main mountain is a round grass-covered summit where a 20-metre-tall metallic cross has been constructed to reach the altitude of...
, Orduña
Orduña
Orduña is a town and municipality of 4,057 inhabitants located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, in the North of Spain....
, Urbasa
Urbasa
The Urbasa Range is a mountain range of western Navarre, Spain, part of the Basque Mountains...
and Aralar
Aralar
Aralar may refer to:*Aralar Range, a mountain range*Aralar Party, a political party...
. Recently some Basque Country farmers have begun to use hybrid Assaf
Assaf (sheep)
Assaf is a breed of domesticated sheep from Israel. It is the result of crossbreeding the Awassi and East Friesian. They are dual purpose breed and raised for their milk and meat.-History:...
sheep, which some maintain does not meet the Denomination of Origin for the cheese.
Production process
Idiazabal is an aged cheese, from semi-cured to cured, made exclusively from whole unpasteurized sheeps' milk. It is produced by strong enzymatic coagulationCoagulation
Coagulation is a complex process by which blood forms clots. It is an important part of hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, wherein a damaged blood vessel wall is covered by a platelet and fibrin-containing clot to stop bleeding and begin repair of the damaged vessel...
. The pressed paste can be either uncooked or semi-cooked. It can eventually be externally smoked.
The milk used to produce Idiazabal must be whole unpasteurized, with a minimum of 6% fat. The milk coagulates at a temperature of 77 to 95 °F (25 to 35 C), with the addition of natural lamb curd, resulting in a compact curdle after 30 to 45 minutes.
The curdle is cut in order to obtain rice-size grains, and then reheated to 34 to 38 °C (93.2 to 100.4 F). In the case of coagulation at higher temperatures, the reheating temperature can reach 40 to 45 °C (104 to 113 F). The reheated and shrunken paste dehydrates and is placed in molds where it may or may not be seasoned before pressing. Salting of the cheese is performed by rubbing the rind with dry salt, or by immersing the cheese in highly salted water for 24 hours. Finally, the cheeses are aged under cold and humid conditions avoiding mold
Mold
Molds are fungi that grow in the form of multicellular filaments called hyphae. Molds are not considered to be microbes but microscopic fungi that grow as single cells called yeasts...
, for at least two months.
The optional smoking takes place at the end of the aging process, using woods from the beech-tree, birch-tree, cherry tree or white pine. The intensity of the smoked qualities depends upon the type of wood and length of smoking. The cheeses are usually cylindrical in shape, although they are occasionally cone- or octagonal-shaped. The rinds of artisan cheeses may be engraved with drawings or symbols characteristic of the Basque culture. The rind is closed, smoked, waxy, without mold. The unsmoked cheeses have a yellow-beige color, while smoked cheeses are brownish.
The interior is compact, without air pockets or with only pin-head size holes, and is beige or pale yellow in color. The interior of the smoked cheeses has a brownish border. The taste is strong and pronounced, slightly acidic and piquant, buttery and consistent, with a characteristic sheep milk flavor. The smoked version is somewhat drier and stronger, with a pleasant aroma. The size of every cheese ranges from small to medium, with weights between 2 and 4 lb (0.90718474 and 1.8 kg).