Petit Basque French Sheep Cheese

Petit Basque is a semi-soft pasteurized sheep's milk cheese, handmade in the French Pyrenees, a natural border that divides France and Spain, that is populated by the Basques people. Although the Basques live on both sides of the border, they produce this French cheese on the French side. Amidst the breath taking, rolling mountains of the Pyrenees, vast pastures stretch as far as the eye can see, providing fertile grazing for milk-producing sheep. Petit Basque, made from pure sheep's milk, has a rather dry texture and an earthy, nutty flavor. It has the distinctive aroma of sheep's milk, and a smooth, sweet flavour with a nutty finish. The semi-hard cheese comes in a whole, uncut cylinder that is aged for a minimum of 70 days, during which it develops a basket-weave pattern. Whole uncut wheel, up to 1.2 lb/550 gr.