Ossau-Iraty (Marks and Spencer)

When we started preparing the more in-depth and regularly scheduled cheese reviews for the website, prior to my first shopping trip, I took the opportunity to look back at my cheese scores over the years and try and identify cheeses which I rated highly, but do not eat on a regular basis. My first observation is that I have not historically paid enough attention to sheep’s cheese. I generally do not enjoy goat’s cheese due to the excessively strong farmyard flavour and therefore find that I mostly stick to cheeses made from cows’ milk. Having paid more attention to which cheeses are made from which milks and recording my thoughts on each cheese more rigorously, I have discovered that I have in fact been a big fan of sheep’s cheese for a while, I just hadn’t realised it yet. The first cheese that jumped out to me to review was Ossau-Iraty. I have tried two different versions of this cheese in the past and on both occasions it was one of my highest rated cheeses of the evening. Armed with this knowledge I set off to Marks and Spencer to peruse their cheese selection.

The M&S Ossau-Iraty has very little scent when opening. The texture is creamy but firm and the cheese is very easy to cut. There is a large variance in flavour as you travel through the cheese from the centre to the rind. The cheese near the centre is less strong, with the nutty flavours all concentrated on the edges. There is a pleasant aftertaste to the cheese which is common to most sheep’s cheeses, although it is fairly weak in this case.

This is an excellent cheese that I would recommend to all cheese lovers, especially those who enjoy cheeses with milder flavours. Whilst it doesn’t have the strongest flavour, this cheese would pair well with almost anything. I personally recommend enjoying this cheese on its own, or with select accompaniments, in a tasting evening which would allow you to appreciate the delicious flavours as much as possible.

Joe

Lover of strong flavours and interesting experiences.