Between the sea and the mountains, in Itsas Mendi, you can only find products of great quality.
The Pirenaika cow and the Betizu cow
1. Origin and geographical distribution
Betizu : Found mainly in the Basque foothills and Navarre (Spain). In France, there are approximately one hundred, living almost in the wild. In Spain, it is more domesticated (around 1,000 individuals), but retains a fierce temperament.
Pirenaika : A cross-border, historically found on both sides of the Pyrenees. It is raised in a more structured way, particularly for its meat, milk and its traditional working role.
2. Role and use
Betizu : Exclusively bred for meat . Raised for its meat, it lives in hardy, inaccessible areas , which has contributed to its robust nature. Not well-suited to dairy production or general work.
Pirenaika : Historically used for three roles (work, milk, meat), today it is focused on meat production. An excellent mother, she calves easily and raises one calf per year, even when crossbred with other meat breeds.
3. Temperament and breeding methods
Betizu : Fierce and wary, even in captivity. It is not advisable to approach a mother with her calf. Their breeding remains largely uncontrolled, with a tendency towards a feral lifestyle.
Pirenaika : Robust and adaptable, it tolerates contrasting climates and high-altitude pastures. Its breeding is more structured, often outdoors, but with more regular monitoring.
4. Hardiness and adaptation
Betizu : Very hardy, adapted to marginal areas and harsh conditions. Less productive compared to other breeds, which threatens its survival.
Pirenaika : Resilient, capable of thriving on pastures inaccessible to other breeds. Less threatened thanks to its versatility and adaptation to modern farming systems.
5. Morphology and branching
Betizu : Local and isolated breed , with no direct link to other breeds in the northern Pyrenees.
Pirenaika : Belongs to the blond branch, like the Béarnaise or the Blonde d'Aquitaine, which gives it physical and genetic characteristics shared with these breeds.
The Banka fish farm is first and foremost a magnificent and unspoiled setting, nestled in the heart of the Basque Country. As early as the 17th century, the Arpéa spring supplied water to a mill in the village of Banka. In 1965, Jean-Baptiste Goicoechea decided to establish a trout farm on this site, convinced that the exceptional water quality and the passion of the people who would run the business could make Banka Trout a gastronomic benchmark. Fifty years later, through hard work, dedication, and patience, the family fish farm offers trout with exceptionally delicate flesh, the result of unique expertise and a particularly privileged environment.
Sweet peppers from Anglet and Seignanx. Label Rouge sentinel Bizi Ona.
Bluefin tuna caught with live bait rod and line. Ark of taste.
Line-caught hake from St Jean de Luz, Arche du Goût.
The Manech sheep with a black head, Bizi Ona sentinel.
Recognizable by its beautiful lyre-shaped horns, the Pirenaika cow originates from the southern side of the Basque Country.
The Pirenaika breed was in danger of extinction in the 1970s: at that time, there were only 1,500 cows, mainly in the Aezoka Valley in Navarre. It was saved thanks to the commitment of breeders, and today there are nearly 28,000 cows.
Its hardiness, maternal and milk qualities, and ability to spend the summer in high pastures make it a cow perfectly suited to the mountain farming systems of the Basque Country.
The breeders have joined forces within the association "Iparraldeko Behi Pirenaikaren Elkartea" with the objectives of promoting and defending this breed, but also of offering quality products: a pink and juicy veal and tender and extremely tasty beef.
In the 90s, an association, Eztigar, in love with its territory, proud of its values, invested itself tirelessly to protect this heritage and this tradition by reviving apple cultivation in the Basque Country.
EZTIGAR is located in ST JUST IBARRE, a small mountain village situated between SAINT JEAN PIED DE PORT and MAULEON.
Preserving our old apple varieties, a remarkable undertaking
Summer Pasture Cheese from the Basque Pyrenees Sentinelle Bizi Ona
Called " Bortuko Ardi Gasna " in Basque, it is a farmstead cheese made from raw sheep's milk with a pressed, uncooked paste. This natural cheese is produced exclusively in summer pastures, from May to September, at altitudes between 600 and 2000 meters.
This raw milk cheese from the summer pastures of the Basque Pyrenees is made in the mountains in the etxola or cayolar (the shepherds' huts in Basque). The milking is done by hand and outdoors. The cheese is produced daily from the raw milk of that day's milkings.
The milk is renneted, stirred, then gathered into a ball which is drained in molds. The dough is then salted. It bears the Mark of the Summer Pasture, a Pyrenean peak surmounted by an Edelweiss.
These cheeses are produced exclusively from May to September during the transhumance to summer pastures.
Around 50 shepherds produce this farm-made summer pasture cheese. Some of them are part of the Ossau-Iraty PDO, or the IDOKI farm charter which favours direct sales and family-sized farms.
Ancient breed of sheep
The flock consists exclusively of Manex black-headed sheep, an emblematic local heritage breed, and red-headed and/or Basco-Béarnaise sheep. They graze in the mountains, feeding on pasture supplemented with natural cereals, strictly limited by the Estive brand.
Mountain aging
The cheese is aged for a minimum of 80 days in a dry cellar in the high mountain pastures. The rind then develops a color ranging from orange-yellow to ash-grey. A delicate fruity flavor is preserved thanks to the sheep's natural and varied diet, the fact that the milk is not cooked, and the aging process in the mountains.
Transhumance of Summer Pastures
The centuries-old practice of transhumance has helped maintain the Basque mountains by limiting the spread of woody vegetation that would otherwise encroach upon the mountains and contribute to wildfires. This natural cheese is made on communal pastures in the Basque Mountains, from the coast to Béarn, at altitudes between 600 and 2000 meters.
Manex sheep with black heads
Sasi ardi...A story
From its cradle, located on the slopes of Aiako Harria and the Rhune (villages of Lesaka, Oiarzun, Sare and Biriatu), the Sasi Ardi or “Muttur Gorri” has spread throughout our moors and undergrowth.
Along with the Pottok and the Betizu , it constituted the complementary "third tooth" in maintaining the foothills of Labourd and Lower Navarre . On small farms, this sheep provided a food reserve and a supplementary income. Only the best, the "Zikiro" or the "Bildots," were taken from the flock to celebrate festive occasions in local life.
At the time of the intensification of dairy farming at the end of the 20th century, it was very quickly replaced or assimilated by the Manech Tête Noire et Rousse, which was more docile and above all more productive.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the Sasi Ardi was spoken of as a legend. Patient work on the genetic heritage and traditional breeding methods was then carried out by a handful of enthusiasts, resulting in the creation of the Sasi Artalde association in 2014, followed by the official recognition of the breed in 2016. Finally, in 2017, the Sasi Ardi won the 1stprize from the Heritage Foundation for Animal Agrobiodiversity.
The current population is the smallest of the sheep breeds in the Basque Country: approximately 1500 ewes on the northern slope of the Basque Country and double that on the southern slope.
Stealthy, rustic and maternal, she returns to her territory.
SASI ARDI, the sheep of the bushes
74 owners for 85.46 ha of orchards in 2020 across 5 municipalities located around the Baigura massif: Bidarray, Hélette, Louhossoa, Macaye, Mendionde.
A LITTLE HISTORY...
"At the end of the 19th century, ink disease ravaged all of Europe. The Basque Country was not spared.
In 1909, two missionaries from our region went to Japan and, on official orders, sent the first Japanese chestnuts to be sown in their native land..."
Here are a few words from the incredible story that I invite you to discover!
Guided by the trees, my explorer's soul is stimulated every day by this part of our history which never ceases to fascinate me.
A subject that became a passion, which allowed me to bring this "Basque Chestnut" sector to life.
Beñat ITOÏZ
The cherry of Itxassou, Bizi Ona Sentinel.
The Corn Grand Roux Basque Arto Gorria, Sentinel Bizi Ona.
IT IS IN MEXICO THAT THE OLDEST ROOTS OF THE ESPELETTE PEPPER ARE FOUND.
It was the first great explorers who, in just a few years, spread chili pepper cultivation throughout the world. But how did chili peppers arrive in the vegetable gardens of the Labourd province? No one knows for sure, but as early as 1650, the first traces of chili peppers were found around Espelette.
It was the women who began cultivating it, as they saw it as a good alternative to pepper, which was too expensive at the time. Chili peppers were used as a spice, both for seasoning and for preserving meats and hams.
Each year, the women selected the seeds of the peppers to make future sowings: they gave birth to the GORRIA variety, the only farm seed that will produce the Espelette pepper.
In the autumn, to dry the chilies, the women would string them onto a rope and hang them against a wall of the farmhouse. Once dry, the ropes were placed in the bread oven, still warm from the previous day. After being removed from the oven, the chilies, now nice and crisp, were pounded to make powder. This skill has been passed down through generations.
It wasn't until 1983, with the creation of a cooperative, that there was a real desire to professionalize the processing of Espelette peppers. However, several difficulties led to its closure. The cultivation of Espelette peppers experienced a significant decline and nearly disappeared.
But Espelette pepper, an exceptional spice, had not yet had its final say. And thanks to the efforts of producers who had formed a union in 1993, it obtained official recognition as an AOC in 2000 and as an AOP in 2002.
The only product from the Basque Country with PDO and AOC status
From the 10 breeders at the beginning, they are now 80 members with 75 breeders, 3 artisanal processors, the Saint Jean Pied de Port slaughterhouse, and the Aldudes Collective Drying Shed.
The Basque breed pig (also known as Pie Noir du Pays Basque, or Euskal Xerria in Basque) is one of the 6 local French pig breeds and is one of the oldest in Europe.
An agricultural as well as a cultural heritage, the Basque breed of pig has strongly influenced the development of Basque society throughout history. From the 12th century onwards, its breeding notably enabled the economic development and settlement of an area located in the heart of the former kingdom of Navarre (the present-day Aldudes valley), called " Kintoa " after the tax that the Kings levied on the pigs that came there in transhumance from all over the Basque Country.
The decline in numbers dates back to the beginning of the 19th century: men extensively cleared the hills of the Basque Country to free up land for sheep grazing. The reduction in beech, oak, and chestnut trees resulted in less available grazing land for the pigs.
The Kintoa production area covers 231 municipalities, including 157 in the Basque Country, 69 in Béarn, and 5 in the Landes. The sector comprises 57 breeders, 4 artisan butchers, and 2 drying facilities
Kintoa pork received a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) in 2017. After obtaining a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) in 2016, Kintoa ham also received a PDO in 2019. This recognition guarantees the area and the ancestral production methods of this Basque Country ham at the European level.
Kintoa pigs are raised in the French Basque Country and a few neighboring cantons.
For a minimum of seven months, the pigs feed on acorns, chestnuts, grasses, roots, and grains . To preserve the pastures and respect nature, each pig has a ring around its snout. This allows them to feed without digging deep in the soil. Salted with PGI "Sel de Salies-de-Béarn ," Kintoa Ham is cured in the prevailing southerly winds in the natural drying sheds of Aldudes for 16 to 18 months, benefiting from the alternation of warm southern winds and sea breezes from the ocean. Its meat is a deep red color and finely marbled. The dry-cured ham is rubbed on the meat side with PDO " Piment d'Espelette " powder before being packaged.
Kintoa ham, a local product under AOP
The Kriaxera /kriaʃeɾa/ is a duck native to the French Basque Country, whose origins are thought to date back to the Roman conquest. The term Kriaxera to both a purebred female duck and a Muscovy duck crossbred with amale.
It is a hardy breed that can live outdoors on grassy areas drained by streams. Males are generally reserved for force-feeding or confit, while females are consumed for their meat.Their lean flesh is particularlytasty.
Kriaxera duck meat is renowned for its quality thanks to its diet and free-range rearing. Their rearing involves being placed in brooders at the beginning of their lives and then thriving outdoors until slaughter.
The historical breeding area covers the Basque Country, Béarn, the Adour basin, Chalosse, and Marensin. This hardy farm duck feeds on grassy ranges and in waterways. Traditional, artisanal production of foie gras ducks has a long history. Not being subject to sharecropping fees, it developed significantly between the two World Wars, then gave way in the 1970s and 80s to integrated industrial production.
The Kriaxera breed has been maintained thanks to a demand for smaller, slower-growing Muscovy ducks than selected breeds, with superior quality meat and less fat. They are also more robust, allowing them to be raised partly outdoors and on grass.
Today, the Kriaxera population numbers around 600 breeding birds. A portion is still used to supply about fifteen small foie gras duck producers who form a high-quality local supply chain.
In addition, around twenty farmers participate in the on-farm conservation of kriaxera which they use for family consumption or for direct sale (roasting cans).
