Milk-Fed Lamb from the Pyrenees Basque meat in Mauléon-Licharre

Regional Association of Meat and Milk Sheep Breeders of Aquitaine
Milk-fed lamb from the Pyrenees: tender, light, fine, Pyrenean

The Pyrenees suckling lamb is above all the story of 3 ancestral local breeds typical of the Basque Country and Béarn:

• Red-headed Manech raised on the hillsides of the Basque Country
• The black-headed Manech from the Basque mountains
• Basco-Béarnaise raised in the Béarn mountains

These dairy breeds are historically favored for their great hardiness, they adapt perfectly to the rugged environment of the Pyrenees which favors the abundance of summer pastures.

The Pyrenees suckling lamb is fed exclusively on its mother's milk by suckling from the udder. In accordance with tradition, Pyrenees suckling lamb is available only 8 months of the year from October 15 to June 15. The summer period is devoted to the transhumance of sheep.

Thanks to this exclusively milk diet, the color of the raw meat is white to light pink. Its flesh is juicy and very tender, its texture not very stringy.

“In general, customers who discover the product are surprised by the tenderness of the meat, by its light taste which is not found in older lambs. It is a meat that has a little chew in the mouth with a slight nutty taste. It’s a meat that’s best enjoyed slightly pink.” Dominique Massonde, Chef of the Oppoca house in Ainhoa. Alain Ducasse, three-star chef, “is particularly fond of Pyrenees suckling lamb. Its flesh expresses the sweetness of milk even in its mystical dimension. (…) a slight taste of spice like the promise of paradise. » . It is a low-calorie meat that combines gastronomic pleasures and dietary requirements.

A CONTROLLED AND CERTIFIED SECTOR: Consumer reassurance
Traceability, hygiene, preparation of carcasses are described in precise specifications respected by all operators in the sector: breeders, cooperatives, slaughterers, wholesalers, points of sale, etc. All are checked regularly each year by an independent certifying body.

The sector in a few figures:
1997 milk sheep breeders in the Pyrénées Atlantiques
620 breeders qualified for the Label Rouge and IGP
Qualified breeders produce 150,000 labelable lambs and only 21,000 are selected to enter the framework of the Label Rouge and the IGP.

Exceptional and recognized product quality

• clear, tender, juicy meat, good fat, a portionable product, ready to eat => meets consumer expectations
• produced in the Pyrenees, the Basque country and Béarn => a thriving and communicating terroir
• Sheep farming maintains the territory, the landscape and biodiversity. maintains active life in rural areas
• a product under PGI and red label => localized, quality, traceability, control
• product consumed in Spain at Christmas instead of capon => festive, “luxury” product
• LOVED product of the greatest chefs. Favorite lamb of Alain Ducasse, Hélène Darroze, Michel Guérard, Yannick Alléno…