 Sheep grazing in the Pyrenees © |
Most people associate June in the Midi-Pyrenees with fruits and vegetables. And no wonder, the markets abound with locally produced fruits, vegetables, salads and herbs. This year has however been topsy turvy after the exceptionally hot spring, and some crops have consequently come in a good month in advance - and others, like the cherries trees, have provided unprecedented quantities. And the unusual weather conditions will surely continue to have an impact on availability and prices; but with the numerous regional microclimates it is difficult to predict much in general terms. More than ever it will be down to you to check what is going on in your local markets and plan your menus and home made conserves accordingly.
In my case, no matter the weather, potential shortages and hefty prices, there are some seasonal treats that I will not forego. And no, I am not thinking of all the wonderful fruit desserts that inevitably add to the waistline. Rather, spring and early summer is a time where I allow myself to enjoy dairy products without feeling guilty about the health consequences. And June in particular is the month where I start hounding the cheese mongers. I look for cheeses made from spring milk from cows and sheep that feed on pastures in the Pyrenees . The spring cheeses made from this milk are creamy with a lovely nutty sweetness that is balanced by a hint of lactic acid. They also have distinctly fresh floral and herby flavours that you will not find in cheeses produced later in the season. And the best part is that you can enjoy these gourmet treats feeling good about it as they are packed full of vitamins and nutrients, one of which may even help to prevent cancer. And perhaps even better, that they are unlikely to be as bad for your cholesterol levels as many other cheeses.
Before you think I have lost my marbles here comes the science bit: Dairy products made from the milk of pasture fed animals will in spring and early summer contain a high concentration of desirable nutrients, vitamins and trace elements. This is due to the fact that plants at this time produce these nutrients abundantly and in a composition that ruminants process easily. The grass also influences the type of fatty acids present in the milk, which is important in terms of controlling cholesterol levels and obtaining a balanced diet. There are more of the essential polysaturated fatty acids in milk from freely foraging animals compared to those present in industrially produced milk. Modern dairy farming relies heavily on high yield production methods where the cows are largely kept indoors and fed on silage and grains. This diet changes the chemical structure of the milk, increasing the mono saturated fat content and provides less of the essential fatty acids, vitamins and trace elements obtained from a natural grass diet. Sheep’s milk has a different composition to cows’ milk. Irrespective of the time of year it contains less of the undesirable mono saturated fats and a particularly high concentration of CLA, the ‘new’ wonder nutrient.
If CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) hasn’t come to your attention before, it is bound to in the future. It is a naturally occurring nutrient found mainly in milk from pasture fed animals and it has both the scientific community and the large agro alimentary conglomerates in a frenzy. Clinical trials show fairly conclusively that CLA helps to prevent against certain types of cancer. There is also very strong evidence to support that it helps slimmers stabilise their weight loss. The food companies are therefore raising each other to find ways to develop mass-market products that contain CLA. Of course, be prudent, take further advice from your own doctor regarding your own personal health issues.
However, if you are like me and love cheese and dairy products, do investigate, and you will find that the occasional treat of the right sort, and at the right time of year, is not as disastrous as you may have been led to believe. Certainly our local Pyrenean Artisinal cheeses made from un-pasteurised milk (raw milk/lait cru) are in a completely different league taste wise than the bland mass produced low fat cheeses that health concerns may steer you towards. For more background information please scroll down to the heading ‘’Notes on nutrition values of milk and derivate products from different types of milk’’
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Whether you are motivated by health or just enjoy good cheeses, you are bound to find some Pyrenean ones that will suit your taste and needs. There is certainly an enormous choice, the vast majority of which are little known outside of their local catchments area, let alone the region. Small scale traditional Artisinal production methods and numerous dispersed producers located in inaccessible corners of the mountains largely explain why so few have reached wider recognition. And why when you do find them in urban delicatessens or top end restaurants they come in at a price.
A very general guide for both sheep’s milk and cow’s milk cheeses from the French Pyrenees is that the central Pyrenean ones tend to be creamier in style than the Basque ones. Arriege is best known for classic goat’s cheeses, but there are also many producers of fresh goat’s cheese in the Basque region offering a wide selection of the flavoured varieties – like the herb, nut or piment encrusted ones. Many of the high pasture sheep, goat and cow’s milk cheeses are only produced in the spring and summer, some of them ideal for immediate consumption and others meant for storage and maturation. The tastiest cheeses are made from raw milk, lait cru. Stored correctly mature lait cru cheeses also have deeper and more harmonious flavours than a mature cheese made from pasteurised milk. Raw milk cheeses in general also contain more nutrients than cheeses made from pasteurised milk. Further, arguments based on sanitary concerns and subsequent health risks from unpasteruised milk/cheeses have by now been so extensively and convincingly countered that you with a bit of common sense should be able to enjoy the traditional Pyrenean cheeses without any qualms..
 Maturing cheeses |
When you know what cheese varieties suit you, you can join in the local sport of buying directly from the producer. If you do not fancy a trek to the mountains, or buying by internet, some of the producers occasionally visit the foot hills markets. They have often sold most of the production in advance so you have to be quick off your mark to be successful. But it is definitely worth the effort if you love food and need to keep an eye on your budget.
 Bleu de Berger |
| Sweet Pea & Blue Cheese pasta |
Quantities pr person for a main course meal
Sauce
30+ grams Bleu de Berger, crumbled, hard rind removed.
100 – 130 cl milk
1/4 tsp of potato flour, fecule, pepper & salt to taste and (optional) piment de esplette and/or a pinch of finely chopped young mint.
Pasta
A handful of fresh young sweet peas
Portion of linguine geonovaise or tagelitelli
Shell the peas, discarding overly ripe ones, and set aside. Prepare the cheeses; grate the hard cheese, crumble the blue cheese (discarding the hard rind), and gorge out the soft centre of the soft cheese, discarding the rind, (or grate the young full fat cheese) and set aside. Put ample water for the pasta to a hard boil in large pan, and add the pasta - do not salt. Dissolve the potato flour in a little cold milk.
In a heavy bottomed pan heat the remaining milk to a rolling boil. Take off the heat and incorporate the potato flour/cold milk mix, whisking vigorously. Put the milk back on a low flame, heat at a soft boil, stirring frequently to avoid lumps, until the mixture has thickened and is even. Take off the heat and incorporate the cheeses, one at a time, little by little, starting with the grated hard cheese, followed the blue cheese and then by the creamiest of the cheeses, stirring continuously to avoid the sauce separating (the milk must not be too hot when you incorporate the cheeses). Add freshly ground pepper, salt if needed, piment d’espelette or other seasoning to taste. Cover and set aside.
Before the pasta is done add the peas to the boiling pasta water (max 2 minutes), or steam the peas above the pasta for max. 3 minutes. Pour off the water from the pasta and peas, combine them with the cheese sauce and serve.
NB: The above is my light but full flavour take on a blue cheese pasta sauce. It features the sweet and nutty flavours of Pyrenean sheep’s cheeses rather than prioritising a full fat creamy mouth feel. Classic Italian recipes use full fat cream in stead of thickened milk, and copious quantities of the mild and creamy blue cheese Dolcelatte sometimes adding ‘a bit’ of Gorgonzola for depth of flavour (both are made from cow’s milk). It is easy to arrive at a sauce with the balance of unctuousity, flavour and calories to suit your personal style. Leave out the creamy or young cows milk cheese from the recipe and instead increase the blue cheese content for an even more distinct and flavoursome dish. Or, substitute some of the milk for cream, or add more of the creamy cheeses in order to get a creamier ‘super comfort food’ mouth feel.
| Fromage Fort (Mature cheese spread) |
Fromage fort can be used as a dip with crudities, as a
sandwich spread, for cheese melts, in gratins, baked potatoes
and to add depth to a quick deglaze sauce.
Ingredients:
½ kilo of cheese odds and ends (nibs, stubs) or surplus
30 cl of dry white wine or good quality chicken stock
Pepper, salt if required – flavourings
Alternative flavour themes: piment d’esplette, brandy & walnuts/ pine nuts, sun dried tomato & herbs/ garlic & herbs.
Do not discard dry old nibs and stubs forgotten in the back of the fridge, just scrape off any surface mould and dryness, and discard the very hard outer rind. Similarly discard the rind from soft creamy cheeses but scrape it to obtain the tasty runny cheese adhering to it.
Use a mixture of left over cheeses, ideally reflecting the classic French dinner selection that includes fresh, creamy, and mature cheeses, from cows, sheep and goats. 40% soft cheese, 45% hard cheese and 15% blue cheese produce a pleasantly textured and versatile mix, but these proportions are not essential for a successful spread. Intense flavour rather than texture is the key. Balance a predominantly mild or creamy and fresh cheese mix, by adding for instance a clove of garlic, herbs and seasonings. If hard cheese stubs predominate in the fridge, it may be difficult to amalgamate the ingredients and achieve a smooth texture. Try adding 25-50 grams of ice cold butter, cut into small cubes, to the food mixer at the end (or fold a couple of table spoons of cold crème fresh into the mixture).
The classic technique is to grate the hard cheeses very finely, crumble blue cheese and goats cheese and gouge out the soft creamy cheeses and then mix in warm stock or wine, bit by bit, stirring vigorously until the mixture is even. I like it to retain a little texture, others beat it very smooth. Then add any finely chopped herbs, nuts and other seasonings. You can also add all the ingredients to a food mixer and pulse the mix to a smooth blend – no need to pre-warm the liquid, but hard cheeses need to be pre cut into small cubes.
Store covered in the fridge. It keeps well. Makes about 40 sandwiches/pieces of toast.
 - COMPETITION - Share your courgette recipes |
Something completely different : a challenge for everybody: The Courgette season has only just started. When it is time for the next radio show/blogg there will still be weeks of courgettes to come, and by then most people have exhausted their own store of recipes and will be thoroughly bored by courgettes. So, how about sharing your favourite courgette recipes and provide others with some inspiration to get them through the last part of the season. Who knows, you could win a special bottle of Rose wine. It is a limited edition made to celebrate the ancient Gascon sport Course Landaise. You can send your recipes to me via the comments box below or send them directly by email to : atasteofgascony@gmail.com. Remember to give contact details and to say if you wish to remain anonymous. The competition is open to everyone, the only criteria being that you are either the originator of a recipe, or have obtained permission to use somebody else’s. The winner will be chosen based on the originality of the recipe and how clear the instructions are. The winner will be announced here + on the radio and advised by email or telephone.
‘’Notes on nutrition values of milk and derivate products from different types of milk’’
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I can’t pretend that my love affair with the traditional Pyreneean cheeses came about due to an appreciation of their nutritional value. To my mind they were simply so good that they warranted the cost. However, when friends and close family were advised by doctors to reduce their cholesterol levels, for instance substitution cow’s milk cheese with sheep’s milk cheeses, I started researching. And I was astounded at how difficult it was to get comprehensive information, and information written in a way that made sense to a lay person. It was none the less pretty clear that the cheeses made from milk of animals feeding on natural grass land (organic) were superior sources of nutrition. This seemed important to share as the trends in food production and environmental and health concerns indicate that the order of the day for most of us will be to eat less meat and other high protein foods like cheese. And consequently that what we do eat will have to be better 'quality’ or justified in nutritional terms. Also, that we as consumers increasingly will have to be more engaged, undertaking research and looking behind marketing campaigns to try to get a wider perspective from which to prioritise what and how to eat. I hope the below notes will be useful to you in your own research.
There are numerous studies related to the nutritional benefits of milk. In later years research has focused on the influence of animal diet on different chemical constituents, not just in the milk itself, but also in the products derived from milk. The impact of the season and various treatments of milk in dairy product manufacture have also been extensively analysed. This is neither an attempt at a scientific summary, nor a comprehensive overview. Simply some notes with scientific references to support that milk/cheeses made from animals foraging on natural grass, like most of the Pyreneean ones, have greater nutritional values than mass produced cheeses made from milk produced in high yield production set ups.
No specific studies have been undertaken of Pyreneean dairy products, the market being too fragmented. However, there is no logical reason (or previous evidence) that would invalidate a comparison between the milk derived from animals foraging on natural Pyrenean mountain pastures and animals feeding on organic grassland. The mountain pastures are not treated with the chemical fertilisers that have been shown to act negatively on the composition of milk, and they provide a precisely the wide variety of food plants that is necessary for a richly nutritious milk.
A recent comprehensive study (*1) comparing organic cow’s milk to non organic milk found that organic milk contained:
60 % more oméga-3;
62 % Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA : essential fatty acid of the oméga-3 type);
57 % more alpha-linolenic acid (ALA :oméga-3 from a plant source);
12 % more oméga-6;
15 % more linoléique acid (AL
62 % Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA : essential fatty acid of the oméga-3 type);
57 % more alpha-linolenic acid (
12 % more oméga-6;
15 % more linoléique acid (
Another study (*2) adds that organic cows milk (‘think’mountain pasture) on average is 50% higher in Vitamin E (alpha tocopherol), 75% higher in beta carotene (which our bodies convert to Vitamin A) and two to three times higher in the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthine than non-organic milk.
A study (*3) of Goat’s and Sheep’s’ milk repeat the trend of the findings for cow’s milk : significantly higher nutritional values from milk from animals feeding on organic diets compared to non organic milk. The study also confirms the comparatively high CLA contents in Sheep’s milk.
Studies of Spanish hard full fat Manchego cheeses from sheep’s milk (*4) produced under broadly similar conditions as those in the Pyrenees do however show that the desirable nutrients present in the milk are also present in the cheese, and broadly conserve well with maturation. Contrary to pasteurised milk cheeses, unpasteruised ones retain the most desirable protein (A2 Caesin), hydrophilic peptides and biogenic amines. A wider range of free amino acids were also present in raw milk cheeses, which further contained higher concentrations of those that were also found in pasteurised milk cheeses. Season and ripening affected their concentration, as well as the levels of biogenic amines, check study for details of those that are of particular interest.
Another somewhat more limited study (*5) compare organic and non organic Italian cow’s milk cheeses at 3 months maturation , and analyses the fatty acid content and CLA levels. The organic cow’s milk cheeses had better nutritional profiles and significantly higher CLA concentrations than non organic ones. The study notes do not specify the treatment, if any, of the milk, or the type of cheeses produced; only that they are traditional (?hard/ Asagio pressato) and that the region is mountainous.
*2 Jacob Holm Nielsen of the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences , in conjunction with the European Union funded Quality Low Input Food (QLIF) project at Newcastle University
*6 link to table comparing conventional (industrialised) milk from cows sheep goats buffalo and soya.
