Cheesy Christmas 23: Brebis à l’Espelette

Today’s cheese was another from France’s southwest corner… the Basque / Aquitaine region and included not just a special cheese, but also a special ingredient that has it’s own DPO (Designation of Protected Origin)... the Espelette Pepper…

(Wondering ‘Why the daily cheese posts?’…
read this 🙂 )

Day #23: Brebis à l’Espelette

Name: Brebis à l’Espelette
‘Brebis’ is the French word for ‘sheep’, and ‘Espelette’ is the name of a particular chili pepper, grown in the Espelette commune of southwestern France. It’s a relatively mild pepper (reaching a maximum of 4,000 on the Scoville scale), but one that has all but replaced black pepper in certain basque dishes. As a spice, it has its own DPO making today’s cheese even more localized to the region.
Region: Basque Region
Milk: raw Sheep milk
Our Score: 4.7/5
Timo was the first to give this cheese high marks, simply for the addition of chili pepper in the mix. While he didn’t find it particularly hot (he loves spicy food), he loved the idea of livening up the taste of cheese. It reminded me of a Dutch farmer & cheesemaker on Prince Edward Island, back home, who used to do the Christmas markets with various kinds of gouda cheese that he produced. He too had one with chili pepper. If you’re in Atlantic Canada and see this guy’s products… they’re really good! (Sorry, I don’t remember the name, just that he was a staple at the Christmas markets).