The Ark of Taste
Created in 1996
Rather than freezing these products - raw or transformed - in a simple inventory, the ark of taste gives them to the heart of the scene, valuing their importance and thus contributing to the preservation of biodiversity as well as the vitality of local economies. Since 2012, the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity has been able to safeguard whole sections of the history and culture of communities all over the world by identifying, listing and promoting.
Bardos smoked cheese
The smoked bardos is a soft, white and creamy raw pulp milk cheese. It measures approximately 8 cm high and 18 to 20 cm in diameter, and weighs on average 1.2 kg. This dry cheese contains 45 % fat. Its crust is relatively thick, hardened by cooking, light yellow color, red in places and has burned ocher spots due to the manufacturing process that characterizes it. For its manufacture, the milk must be heated to 33 ° C and pampered to obtain a curd an hour later. The curd is then brewed and let rest 15 minutes. After molding and drainage, it is burned on all sides before being salted with Bayonne salt 4 p.m. later. He was then wiped again and left to refine for 12 to 15 days. It can then be marketed for the following 3 months.
Traditionally, it is dried in domestic chimneys. Formerly considered a coarse and little hygienic cheese, its artisanal production has declined. In 1958, in Basque and Bayonnaise gastronomy, R. Cuzacq mentions that it was currently sold on the Bayonne market.
A priori there are only two producers to ensure the production of this whole raw milk cheese, which does not benefit from an AOC. The exceptional survey carried out in France by the AOC has enabled the sustainable production of many products. However, this highlights the vulnerability of products that do not benefit from this appellation and are therefore marginalized
