Milk-Fed Lamb from the Pyrenees Tender, local milk-fed lamb from the Basque Country

Regional Association of Sheep Meat and Dairy Breeders of Aquitaine

Pyrenean Milk Lamb: tender, light, fine, Pyrenean

The Pyrenean milk-fed lamb is above all the story of 3 ancestral local breeds typical of the Basque Country and Béarn:

• The red-headed Manechs raised on the hillsides of the Basque Country
• The black-headed Manechs originate from the Basque mountains
• The Basco-Béarnaise raised in the mountains of Béarn

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

Thanks to this exclusively dairy 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 that is not found in older lambs. It is a meat that has a little chew in the mouth with a slight nutty taste. It is a meat that is savored slightly pink." Dominique Massonde, Chef of the Oppoca house in Ainhoa. Alain Ducasse, three-star chef, "is particularly fond of milk-fed lamb from the Pyrenees. 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 and carcass preparation are described in precise specifications respected by all operators in the sector: breeders, cooperatives, slaughterers, wholesalers, points of sale, etc. All are regularly checked each year by an independent certification body.

The sector in a few figures

1997 dairy sheep farmers in the Atlantic Pyrenees
620 breeders qualified for the Label Rouge and the PGI

Qualified breeders produce 150,000 labeled lambs and only 21,000 are selected to enter the framework of the Label Rouge and the PGI.

Exceptional and recognized product quality

• light, tender, juicy meat, good fat, a portionable product, ready to eat => meeting consumer expectations
• produced in the pyrenees, the basque country and béarn => a supportive and communicative terroir
• sheep farming maintains the land, 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
• A product adored by the greatest chefs. Favorite lamb of Alain Ducasse, Hélène Darroze, Michel Guérard, Yannick Alléno…