Idiazabal cheese substitutes

The closest widely available cheese and the standard answer. Same sheep's milk, same firm but supple paste that slices cleanly and melts smoothly, same nutty and faintly tangy flavor. The single difference is smoke, so an unsmoked Idiazabal recipe is covered exactly, while a smoked one comes out sweeter and cleaner without that woody edge.

Best for

croquetas and bechamel, cheese boards, grating over beans, lentils and piperade, Basque cheesecake, toasted sandwiches

For smoked Idiazabal, blend 3 parts Manchego with 1 part smoked gouda, or grate in the Manchego and add a pinch of smoked paprika, about 1/8 teaspoon per cup of grated cheese. Semicurado melts better than the hard curado.

This nails the one thing Manchego cannot, which is the smoke, and it melts beautifully into a bechamel or a cheesecake batter. Being cow's milk, it is milder, sweeter and creamier, with none of the sheepy tang, so the dish tastes rounder and less savory. Blend it with Manchego or Pecorino if you want the sharpness back.

Best for

croquetas, Basque burnt cheesecake variants, toasted sandwiches and gratins, cheese sauces

Buy a real smoked gouda rather than a bright orange processed smoked cheese, which will taste artificial. Check whether it is naturally smoked or smoke-flavored, since the latter can be harsh.

The French Basque sheep's-milk cheese made on the other side of the same mountains, and in milk and texture it is the closest cheese in the world to Idiazabal. It is sweeter, milkier and never smoked, so a plate of it reads gentler and more caramel-like where Idiazabal has a firmer, saltier bite.

Best for

cheese boards, eating with quince paste or cherry jam, slicing for pintxos, salads

The best swap if your cheese counter has it. Also sold as Petit Basque in small wheels. Not smoked, so the same caveat applies as with Manchego.

The neighboring Navarrese sheep's-milk cheese and a near like-for-like swap: same pressed firm paste, same nutty depth. It runs a touch drier and sharper than Idiazabal and it is unsmoked, so grated over a stew it is slightly more assertive and less buttery.

Best for

grating over stews, beans and eggs, cheese boards, croquetas, salads with walnuts

Harder to find outside Spanish specialty shops, but if you see it, buy it. Because it is drier, grate rather than cube it for melting.

Sheep's milk, firm, nutty, and easy to find, so it covers the milk character that cow's-milk cheeses miss. It is grassier and less buttery than Idiazabal and has a more mineral finish, so a croqueta made with it tastes brighter and slightly sharper. Avoid aged Pecorino Romano, which is far saltier and will bulldoze everything else in the dish.

Best for

grating over pasta, beans and vegetables, croquetas, salads, cheese boards

Pecorino Toscano or a young sardo is what you want. If you only have Romano, use about half as much and cut the salt in the recipe.

Cow's-milk melters for when the job is purely functional, such as making a croqueta go stringy or a gratin brown well. Both are noticeably blander and sweeter than Idiazabal with none of the sheep-milk depth or smoke, so the dish tastes pleasant but generic and needs a little more salt.

Best for

melting in croquetas and gratins, toasted sandwiches, stuffed peppers, budget substitution

Season the dish a touch more heavily to compensate, and add a pinch of smoked paprika if the recipe called for smoked Idiazabal.