This famous sheep milk "tomme" owes its name to the Basque Iraty Mountain and the Ossau Valley. Following a traditional recipe, this cheese is made in the Western part of the Pyrenees since the Middle Ages. Shepherds created it as a way to preserve ewe's milk in a nutritious (and delicious) way, and used the "tommes" to barter. Now a PDO cheese, our farmhouse Ossau Iraty is still made in the traditional way: shepherds collect the milk at high altitude and make the cheese in chalets called "cayolars". The young cheese is then taken to our affineur where it is matured for 4 to 6 months. It has a natural orange rind and a firm, buttery, coloured paste. Its rich fruity taste abounds in aromas of grass and flowers.