Tupí, also known as ''formatge de tupí'', is a fermented
cheese
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
of a certain area of the
Pyrenees and
Pre-Pyrenees
The Pre-Pyrenees are the foothills of the Pyrenees.
Description
As a mountainous system the Pre-Pyrenees are part of the Pyrenees. They run parallel to the main mountain range in a west to east direction.
On the French side the Pyrenees's slop ...
made from cows' or sheep's milk.
It is a cheese traditionally prepared in the mountainous
Pallars
Pallars is a historical and natural region of Catalonia. Located in the Pre-Pyrenees and Pyrenees area, most of its territory is mountainous.
The Noguera Pallaresa river is named after this region.
Geography
The physiography of the Pallars natu ...
region, as well as in the
Cerdanya
Cerdanya () or often La Cerdanya ( la, Ceretani or ''Ceritania''; french: Cerdagne; es, Cerdaña), is a natural comarca and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain. Historically it was one of the counties ...
and the
Alt Urgell
Alt Urgell () is a ''comarca'' (county) in Catalonia, Spain, a modern representation of part of the historic County of Urgell (''ca'' 789 - 1413), seat of the Counts of Urgell and the historic region of Urgellet
Urgellet () is a historical te ...
. Together with the ''
llenguat'', another fermented cheese of the same area, it is one of the few varieties of cheese of true
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
origin.
[Generalitat de Catalunya – Departament d'Agricultura, Alimentació i Acció Rural](_blank)
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Description
Tupí cheese was home made in rural households according to old custom. It is quite soft and creamy, containing a high proportion of fat. Owing to its strong taste it is usually eaten with farmer-style bread along with strong wine. It can also be used as an ingredient for the preparation of sauces.aiguardent
(Spanish language, Spanish), or (Portuguese language, Portuguese) ( eu, pattar; ca, aiguardent; gl, augardente), is a generic term for alcoholic beverages that contain between 29% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). It originates in the Iberian Pe ...
'' or another similarly strong liquor. The fresh cheese is pressed by hand until it takes a ball shape and all liquid is drained from it. Then it is put inside of a ''tupí
Tupí, also known as ''formatge de tupí'', is a fermented cheese of a certain area of the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees made from cows' or sheep's milk.
It is a cheese traditionally prepared in the mountainous Pallars region, as well as in the Cerda ...
'' glazed ceramic jar and the liquor is added. The mixture is then stirred from time to time the first four or five days after preparation.[Formatge de tupí - Ingredients i preparació artesanal](_blank)
/ref>
Following the preparation process the jar is covered and kept in a cool and dry place for a minimum of two months during which the cheese ferments, reaching the desired consistency. Some households add olive oil
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...
to the cheese in the jar after fermentation.Els formatges del Pallars Sobirà
/ref>
See also
* Fermentation in food processing
References
External links
*
Formatges catalansPallars Jussa – Productes gastronomics
Catalan cuisine
Spanish cheeses
Cow's-milk cheeses
Sheep's-milk cheeses
Fermented foods
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