Its history

Ossau-Iraty owes its name to the two regions it originates from: the Ossau Valley in Béarn, and the Iraty Forest in the Basque Country. For a thousand years at least, shepherds from this region have been travelling through the Pyrenees with their animals and making cheese on the spot.

The herds are made up of Manech ewes, and the climatic precipitations of this area, where it often rains, favour the good quality of the ewes' pasture.

One of its main characteristics is that it is surrounded by Espelette peppers. These peppers, known in the whole of France, are the pride and joy of the Basque Country, and gives Ossau-Iraty a splendid coulour, as well as incomparable smells.

It used to have a tendency to become pungent, and so shepherds used to have black cherry jam and stong wines with it, so as to soften this flaw. It is no longer the case today, but these mixtures are always of good taste.