Murray's Cave Aged Limited Szechuan Sheep
- Pasteurized
- Microbial Rennet
- Age: 2 Months
- Sheep Milk
- by Murray's Cheese Caves
- United States
- ApproachableAdventurous
- SoftHard
Fragrant Szechuan peppercorns and rich Basque cheese. Discover this captivating combination of flavors in Szechuan Sheep, a one-of-a-kind creation from Murray’s Caves. Szechuan peppercorn-studded oil imparts notes of citrus and pine near the mottled rind, which contains a hint of that signature numbing sensation. Think cacio e pepe gone global; the harmony of sheep’s milk tang and bitter, earthy bite. This cheese doesn’t need adornment, just some Murray's Spiced Cherry Preserves for a touch of sweetness.
- Szechuan Sheep starts with wheels of unaged Petit Agour, a dense, creamy sheep's milk cheese from the Pyrenees in French Basque Country.
- Our caves team takes the unaged wheels and rubs them twice with Szechuan peppercorn-infused oil during their first two weeks of aging.
- The cheese develops a thin natural rind over four to six weeks of maturation—the bits of Szechuan peppercorn remain embedded in the rind.
- Szechuan peppercorns have been a prized ingredient in Sichuan, the southwestern Chinese province, for more than two millennia.
- Like black pepper, Szechuan peppercorn isn’t a pepper but a dried berry. Specifically, Szechuan peppercorns are the dried husks of berries from the prickly ash tree, a member of the citrus family.
- Szechuan peppercorns aren’t spicy in the traditional sense. Instead, they impart a tingly, numbing sensation to the mouth and tongue.
- Despite the amount of peppercorn in the rind of Szechuan Sheep, very little of the numbing sensation is detectable, but much of the peppercorns’ flavor remains—piney, floral, earthy, and citrusy.
- In Szechuan cuisine, Szechuan peppercorn is typically paired with chile for spice. Evoke that classic combination by pairing this cheese with Calabrese salami.
- At Murray’s Cheese Caves in Queens, New York, our experts age and mature cheeses to perfection, creating unique products that are exclusive to Murray’s.
- We built our caves to enhance the quality of our products, as well as to honor the craft of cheesemakers across the globe. The practice of aging cheese, known in French as affinage, was relatively rare in the United States when we built our first set of caves in 2004.
- The cheeses that mature in our caves are crafted in a variety of ways, which are reflected on their labels, described below.
- Cave Aged Original cheeses are produced from a Murray’s original recipe—we have a hand in every step of the cheesemaking process.
- Cave Aged Reserve cheeses are made in collaboration with some of our favorite cheesemakers. They send us unaged wheels, and we use unique aging techniques to produce something completely new.
- Cave Aged Limited cheeses are born out of our constant innovation and experimentation, only available for a limited time.
- Cheeses in the Cave Aged category are aged in our caves with methods that replicate the treatment they would’ve received from their original producer. This category is largely populated by bloomy rind cheeses that don’t fare well in transport.
- Murray's operates four caves, designed to ensure that each cheese matures in its ideal environment—the Bloomy Rind Cave, Natural Rind Cave, Washed Rind Cave, and Alpine Cave.
- The temperature, humidity, and microbial activity in each cave are controlled and monitored with the greatest precision.
