By Porter Lang
Three things on an Idiazabal tell you more than the label’s front: a numbered back-label, a plaque in the rind and a logo with a red band. They are the practical tests, and they come from the cheese’s own regulatory council. Everything else in this guide is context, and some of it is where the sources disagree.
What it is
The regulatory council’s own site says Idiazabal is made only from raw sheep’s milk of the Latxa and Carranzana breeds, both native to the Basque Country. Foods and Wines from Spain, a promotional site, says the same about the milk and places production in the Basque Country and Navarre. Wikipedia says Latxa is the usual breed and that the name comes from the town of Idiazabal in the Goierri region of Gipuzkoa, and that the Denomination of Origin was created in 1987.
On the milk, Wikipedia adds that it is whole, with at least 6 per cent fat, and that curdling uses natural lamb rennet. It also says some farmers use a hybrid sheep called Assaf, which some people say does not meet the rules. We pass that on as Wikipedia’s line, not a finding. The council says each ewe yields about 100 litres per season, mainly from February to June.
The three marks
The council says each piece carries a numbered holographic back-label which it describes as protected against counterfeiting. It says a registered casein plaque set into the rind carries a number that allows the cheese to be traced. The Denominación de Origen logo, with its red band, is numbered on the label to control issue and authenticity. Each cheese is also marked with a unique number when it is placed in its mould.
Foods and Wines from Spain describes the same system more briefly: a numbered label issued and controlled by the regulatory council, and a number on each cheese for traceability. It does not mention the plaque. Wikipedia, in the summary we read, mentions neither label nor plaque. Our practical reading is that a wedge with no rind and no back-label cannot be checked against the plaque, so ask to see the original piece or its label.
Size and weight: a conflict
The council says pieces weigh 1 to 3 kg, also sold as wedges. Foods and Wines from Spain gives a height of 8 to 12 cm, a diameter of 10 to 30 cm and a weight of 1 to 3 kg. Wikipedia gives about 0.9 to 1.8 kg, and says the form is usually cylindrical but sometimes cone-shaped or octagonal. The weights overlap but do not match, and the shape claims differ. We show all three and do not reconcile them. If a piece is outside the range on one source, look at the others before calling it wrong.
Ripening
The council says the minimum cure is two months and that the best qualities are reached between four and eight months, depending on taste. Foods and Wines from Spain puts the minimum at 60 days from moulding, at 8 to 10 degrees Celsius and 85 to 90 per cent relative humidity. Wikipedia agrees on two months and adds that a cheese aged a few months turns nutty and buttery, while one aged longer becomes firm, dry and sharp enough to grate.
Our reading, from the council’s February-to-June milking season and the four-to-eight-month range, is that a cheese made in spring can reach its stated best by autumn or winter. That is arithmetic on two sourced facts and not a claim made by any of them.
Smoke: optional, and sources disagree on wood
Smoking is not required. The council says Idiazabal is sold both smoked and unsmoked, and that smoking is traditional in some valleys and not others. It does not name the wood. Foods and Wines from Spain says smoking is optional and uses beech or alder, a few days before sale. Wikipedia says it happens at the end of ageing, with beech, birch, cherry or white pine, that the designation permits external smoking, and that most cheeses are unsmoked. Wikipedia also says smoked ones are drier and stronger.
So a smoked rind is a style choice and not a mark of the designation, and the woods named depend on which page you read. Smoke can colour the rind. Foods and Wines from Spain says unsmoked rind is yellowish beige or whitish grey and smoked is brownish ochre or tan. Wikipedia describes the rind as hard, waxy and closed, yellow-beige if unsmoked and brownish if smoked.
Fat and flavour
The council gives a minimum of 45 per cent fat in dry matter, and describes the cheese as pressed with a hard paste. Foods and Wines from Spain calls the flavour intense, full and balanced, with a long aftertaste, only slight piquancy and no bitterness. Wikipedia calls it strong, slightly acidic, piquant and buttery, with the characteristic taste of sheep’s milk. These are descriptions, not measurements, and the two flavour accounts read differently.
What kind of sources these are
The council’s page is the producer body’s own account of itself. Foods and Wines from Spain is a promotional site for Spanish produce. Wikipedia is an open encyclopaedia. We found no independent laboratory or consumer test.
Questions a buyer would ask
Does the piece carry a numbered back-label? Is the plaque still in the rind? Is it smoked or not, and is that stated? How long was it aged, and by whom? Which of those can the seller show you? The council’s list of marks gives you the first two.
What we left out
Prices, producers and shop names. Awards, apart from the date the designation was created. The council’s list of towns, and the Assaf dispute beyond the single line above. Pairings, because none of the sources we read gave a sourced one.
Quick answers
What milk is Idiazabal made from? According to the regulatory council, raw sheep’s milk from Latxa and Carranzana ewes, both native Basque breeds.
How do you spot a genuine Idiazabal? The council says to look for a numbered holographic back-label, a numbered casein plaque in the rind and the numbered logo with a red band.
How long is it aged? The council and Foods and Wines from Spain both say at least two months, or 60 days. The council says the best qualities arrive between four and eight months.
Roam first. Shop later.
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