Idiazábal

Idiazábal

What it is

The smoke was an accident of housing: shepherds kept their wheels in the rafters of stone huts that had no chimney but the hearth. Smoking is optional under the DO and the unsmoked wheels are just as legitimate, though it is the beech- and hawthorn-smoked ones that travelled beyond the Basque country.

In the kitchen

Smoke and heat compound, so keep it off the grill: serve it raw in thin slices with quince paste, or grate it into a sauce at the very last moment.

Goes with

Quince paste Walnut Apple Piquillo pepper Honey Hazelnut

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