Petit Basque (P’tit Basque)

Most visits to our local Ardmore Farmer’s Market, I stop by Cheeseman Jack’s booth to talk about cheese, learn by tasting some cheese I’ve never had before and purchasing some to bring home to my wife and family. Recently I had the opportunity to try Petit Basque, a wonderful sheep’s milk cheese that is mild enough even for my kids.

Petit Basque is an unpasteurized, uncooked hard sheep’s milk cheese produced in the Pyrenees Mountains, the mountains that form the border between France and Spain

In Short

• Type:  Sheep milk
• Origin:  Pyrenees Mountains, France
• Process:  brined and ripened 70 days
• Texture:  smooth and firm
• Shape:  Cylindrical, weighing approximately 1.25 pounds
• Color:  Butter yellow
• Rind:  Thin and covered with thin plastic to prevent mold
• Flavor:  Mild, nutty and slightly fruity

The Rest of the Story

A lot of the great cheeses of the world have been around for hundreds of years.  Interestingly, although Petit Basque (sometimes spelled P’tit Basque) is made using traditional methods, it is a new cheese, having first been produced in 1997 by the large French dairy corporation Lactalis.  If you think you’ve never heard of Lactalis, think again.  Ever heard of Sorrento, President or Rondele cheese brands?  All of these brands are under the Lactalis umbrella.

So, why this new sheep milk cheese when there are plenty of well known sheep milk cheeses on the market (Spanish Manchego comes to mind immediately)?  Often, sheep milk cheese is a bit of an acquired taste.  It can be quite assertively “sheepy.”  Lactalis most likely wanted to produce a more accessible sheep milk cheese, one that would appeal to a broader segment of the American market—almost half of the Petit Basque produced is marketed in the United States.

A Little History

Petit Basque is made in the Pyrenees Mountains using the same techniques that local shepherds used hundreds of years ago. This “fromage de brebis” or sheep cheese was made from pure sheep’s milk the farmers put aside while milking their ewes. Two other famous sheep’s milk cheeses from the area are Ossau Iraty and Idiazabal.

Some Facts

Petit Basque is comprised of 45% fat and has a rich, buttery yellow color.  The cheese is made from curds from uncooked, unpasteurized ewe’s milk.  Once pressed into molds and dried, it is brined for two hours and then cold aged for 70 days before being either waxed or covered in thin plastic to prevent mold. The small cylindrical shaped cheese each weigh about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds.

What To Expect

When you look at the exterior of Petit Basque you will notice it is has a light yellow butter color appearance that is smooth and slightly oily. When you cut open a wheel of Petit Basque, you will notice that the interior is very smooth with no “eyes” (think Swiss cheese).  The aroma is slightly nutty with some caramel notes.  Biting into the cheese, some have described it as having a smooth taffy-like feel in the mouth.

What to Serve With

Since Petit Basque is a relatively mild sheep milk cheese, it is a good one to start with if you are unfamiliar with sheep milk cheeses.  The flavor is mildly “sheepy,” nutty and somewhat fruity.  It would be lovely on a fruit and cheese platter, especially with stone fruit such as peaches, apricots or even cherries.  It can also be served on some French bread with ham and tomato or on serving board with cured meats, olives and pâté.

I typically serve cheese with whatever wine I’m drinking but I have read Petit Basque goes well with most red wines including Beajolais, Merlot and Viogner.

Where To Find Petit Basque

Try your local supermarket or cheese shop and I think I’ve seen it at Costco too.

Related Pages

All About Cheese

Types of Cheeses

My wife sent me to the Ardmore Farmer’s Market with instructions to come home with a "delicious, creamy, goat cheese that can be spread on crusty French bread." With mission in hand I immediately checked in with my my favorite cheesemonger, Jack who turned me onto Chabichou du Poitou, a soft, unpasteurized goat’s milk cheese made in the Poitou-Charentes region of France.

This is a delightful cheese that you may be able to find if you have a great cheese shop near you but if not, I’ve listed a couple of online sources at the end of the post.

The Short Story

Type: Goat’s milk
Origin: Poitou-Charentes region, France
Process: Barely ripened (10 days to three weeks)
Texture: Firm and creamy
Shape: Cylindrical to slightly conical
Color: Bright white
Rind: Thin and white with some yellow and blue mold
Flavor: Sweet, goaty, salty, slightly acidic

The Rest of the Story

Chabichou du Poitou, like many other famous cheeses, is only produced in specific regions. In the case of this cheese, it is made in the Poitou-Charentes region. For those of you who, like me, aren’t very familiar with French geography, the Poitou-Charentes region is located about 100 miles north of the city of Bordeaux and about 30 miles inland from the west coast. It is halfway between Paris and Bordeaux.

About the size of a wine tumbler, it is made from whole goats’ milk, and as such, has the characteristic “bright white” color in its interior. What makes this cheese so special is that it not only has an edible rind, but right beneath the rind is a thin buttery layer before you slice down into the firm, creamy, white center. It’s these three flavors and textures that give this cheese such complexity. It is very “goaty,” but in the best way possible. It also tastes somewhat sweet with a bit of a salty/tangy edge at the end when you swallow.

You can eat Chabichou du Poitou when it is young (up to 3 weeks) with a white paste that may be a little chewy, ripe (up to 6 weeks) with a spreadable texture and sweet flavor or dry (2 months) with a nutty flavor. Each will offer you a slightly different taste. The Chabichou I tasted was perfectly ripe, spreadable, mild and melts in your mouth.

A Little History

I was surprised to find out that the first goats were introduced to France by the Romans. Much later, the Saracens continued the practice of raising goats in and around the Loire Valley until they were eventually pushed out during the Battle of Poitiers. When they left, they left behind their goats along with the recipes they used to make goat cheese. So, the Chabichou du Poitou, named for the Arabic word for “goat,” has a history that begins back in the 8th century!

How It Is Made

While there is some industrialized production of Chabichou du Poitou, the best are still made using traditional methods. The process starts with whole, unpasteurized goat’s milk. It is slightly pressurized for a brief period, and then the curd is left to set up for a day or two at a specific temperature.

Afterwards, the curd is packed into molds that are perforated. The perforations allow the whey to drain and for the curd to become more solid. After a period of draining and turning, they are turned out of their molds and packed either in brine or with crystalline salt. Then, it is further drained, dried and then aged for at least ten days or up to three weeks. Some of the cheeses are even aged up to three months for a much more pronounced flavor and firmer end product.

Food & Wine Pairings

Like many goat cheeses, Chabichou pairs nicely with white wines. It is particularly nice to have with a chilled Sauvignon Blanc. If you can find a wine from the Loire region in France, that would be ideal. I like to enjoy Chabichou du Poitou just spread on a crusty baguette, but you could even serve it as a light end to a springtime meal.

I would not, however, sprinkle it on a salad. It is much too wonderful and complex on its own, and a “lesser” goat cheese would work just as well, and perhaps even better because it would be milder and would pair better with a vinaigrette. For the same reasons, I would never melt it into a sauce.

I did find one classic preparation that reminds me a little of a Caprese salad: put alternating slices of Chabichou du Poitou, cornichon (pickle) and tomato on a bed of cooked rice in a small baking dish. Sprinkle with a little oregano, thyme, salt and pepper and then drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 350° F for half an hour and serve warm.

Where to Buy Chabichou du Poitou Online

Gourmet Food Store	Artisanal Premium Cheese

Romantic Cheeses and Brie en Croute for Valentine’s Day

I thought cheese might be a great way to start off you home cooked romantic Valentine’s dinner for two. It can be simple, elegant, rich and a great way to start off the night.

There is cheese, and there is cheese. The first kind of cheese is the kind you find at the regular grocery store - mass produced, cut into blocks and vacuum sealed. Perfectly fine for making a sandwich or grating and sprinkling on tacos or chili, but not what we’re looking for when it comes to a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner.

When I asked my wife and a couple of her friends what kind of cheese they think of when they think of a romantic dinner, they all immediately said “Brie.” Brie is a soft French cheese named for the area in which it is made. Another similar soft cheese to consider is Camembert. Both of these cheeses can be found pretty easily in the gourmet cheese section at the regular grocery store. They are rich, so a couple of ounces per person will be more than enough. And there will be more courses to come, so don’t gorge yourselves on cheese.

While my wife and her friends I spoke to were partial to Brie, I am a big fan of French double and triple crème cheeses. By French law, double crème cheese must have a minimum butterfat content of 60% per gram, and triple crème cheese must contain at least 75% butterfat per gram. As you can imagine, these cheeses are all very buttery, rich and very spreadable when ripe.

One of my favorites is a French cheese called Excelsior - it has about 72% butterfat, so it is just shy of a triple crème. Another fine triple crème is Brillat-Saverin. If you’re wondering where you’ve heard that name, he is quoted at the beginning of the original Iron Chef: “Show me what you eat, and I’ll show you what you are.” While these cheeses are very expensive, since they are so very rich, a little goes a very long way. It is well worth your time to go to your local gourmet shop or cheese shop and hunt down some double or triple crème cheese.

For a simple presentation, serve small wedges of soft cheese with some sturdy crackers, such as Triscuits, or toasted slices of baguette. Add a few small bunches of grapes (no more than 8 grapes per bunch - you don’t want to slam a whole pound of grapes down on the plate) or slices of apple (mix the juice of one lemon into a cup of ice water. Dip the apple slices into the lemon water to prevent browning), and you have a lovely fruit and cheese course for two!

Important - cheese is best served at room temperature, so make sure that you get your cheese out of the refrigerator well before serving so that it has a chance to warm up. Serve the fruit straight from the refrigerator, and use freshly toasted baguettes and you will impress your Valentine not only with your simple and beautiful presentation, but also with the three temperatures on one plate - cold fruit, room temperature cheese and warm bread will elevate your cheese plate from good to great.

Let’s get back to the Brie

If you feel comfortable and want to offer your Valentine a baked cheese dish, you can make Brie en croute. This is a fancy name for Brie wrapped up in puff pastry, and it is very easy to make.

Brie en Croute

Ingredients

1 small wheel of Brie
1 sheet of puff pastry (found in the frozen food section near the piecrusts—It comes in boxes of two pieces. Take one piece out and thaw it for at least 12 and up to 24 hours in the refrigerator before using. Leave the other piece frozen for later use)
1 small jar of apricot preserves
A pinch or two of salt
Egg wash (1 egg whisked together with one teaspoon of water)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, F.

Flatten your piece of puff pastry, and then roll it so it is about 1/8”- 3/16” thick. Set the small wheel of brie on the pastry just for reference, and then cut a circle of puff pastry large enough to wrap all the cheese entirely. Reserve the extra dough because you’ll be using some of it later.

Brie rind is edible, so just leave it on. Mix a pinch or two of salt into the apricot preserves and spread it in a thick layer on top of the wheel of cheese.

Place the center of the circle of pastry over the center of the cheese, right on top of the jam. Gently press the pastry down the sides of the wheel of cheese. Turn the whole thing upside down and pleat and seal the pastry. Just press all the edges firmly together, but don’t press straight down, or you’ll mess up your layer of jam.

Turn the pastry covered wheel right-side up again. Put it on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and press down from the sides, just to make sure the cheese is sitting fairly level on the sheet. Cut a couple of heart shapes out of the extra pastry - or you could cut out your Valentine’s initials or just some leaf or flower shapes. Use a little of the egg wash to “glue” these cut outs to the top of your wheel. Now, brush the entire wheel with a thin coat of egg wash. This will help it to get shiny and brown in the oven.

Bake for 20 minutes or so, until the pastry is a nice golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Serve with crackers, toasted slices of baguette and maybe some fresh fruit.

And to drink? A good French Champagne, an Italian prosecco or another sparkling wine. For a non-alcoholic alternative, serve sparkling cider or grape juice. Bubbles and creamy cheese make for a great combination.

Tomorrow we’ll look at the second course of our romantic Valentine’s Day meal - Soup