Cheese of the week: Petit Ardi Gasna Cheese

Name: Petit Ardi Gasna Basque Pecorino Cheese

Brand: Fromagerie Agour

 

Place of Purchase:  Wheatsfield Organic Co-op in Ames, Iowa

Country of Origin: FRANCE

Price in Iowa: $21.62/lb

Milk: raw Sheep

Processing: My French is terrible, so this is part guesswork: small batches of milk are twice-cooked, pressed, and coated with a pimento puree.  They are then aged for 3 months.

Texture: semi-firm

Color: pale white interior with a rusty-red rind

Rind: natural coated with some kind of pepper.  The label says pimento powder, but the manufacturer's website says "purée de piment d’espelette," which I think is French for pimento puree.

Aroma: Woody and nutty

Taste:  Nutty, forest mushroom, fruity, berry notes

Mouth feel: fairly firm and a bit slippery/oily.

Notes:This cheese was another firm Basque-style cheese that I ended up grinding.  So, another week of pasta and delicious Basque cheese.  Poor me.  The flavors of the cheese are very mixed and complex.  The woody/nutty part of it comes from the raw ewe's milk and the aging process, but the pimento rub gives it a bunch of spiky, fruity flavors that dance across your palate.  I'm not sure what to pair this cheese with.  Maybe some juicy grapes or pears?  Maybe plums?  Definitely fruit.