Our Idiazábal cheese is made by a small family company in the heart of the Basque Country. A smoked unpasteurized sheep's milk cheese aged for 8 months, it gets a deep but subtle flavor from being smoked with hawthorn and cherry wood.
Traditionally, Basque shepherds would keep their flocks high in the Pyrenees Mountains throughout the spring and summer. In the early autumn, right after the first snows, the shepherds would appear in the villages below carrying with them the cheeses they made from the ewe’s milk all summer long.
To preserve the cheeses in the highlands they stored them by the chimneys of their mountain shelters, where they aged and naturally smoked.
This Denomination of Origin raw sheep’s milk cheese is hardwood smoked, coloring the outer rind from orange to a nutty brown. The smoke gently permeates the pale beige interior. As it ages, the flavor becomes a little sharper, and can be grated.
Idiazábal goes beautifully with fresh fruits, jamón, salchichón and crusty bread and pairs well with a hearty red wine.
