Mató () is a fresh cheese of

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

made from

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

' or goats' milk, with no salt added. It is usually served with honey, as a traditional and emblematic Catalan dessert known as .

Description and origin

Mató is a whey cheese similar to non-industrial variants of the fresh cheeses known as ''Brull'' in

Maestrat The Maestrazgo () or Maestrat () is a natural and historical mountainous region, located at the eastern end of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range, in Spain. It encompasses the north of the Autonomous Community of Valencia, in Castellón provin ...

Ports de Beseit Ports de Tortosa-Beseit (), also known as Ports de Beseit, or simply as Els Ports or Lo Port by locals, is a limestone mountain massif located at the north-eastern end of the Sistema Ibérico, a complex system of mountain ranges and massifs in ...

and the Southern Terres de l'Ebre and as ''Brossat'' in

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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 ...

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...

, Mallorca and parts of

Occitania Occitania ( oc, Occitània , , or ) is the historical region in Western and Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes still used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasse ...

, as well as the ''brocciu'' in Corsica and other types of

curd cheese Quark or quarg is a type of fresh dairy product made from milk. The milk is soured, usually by adding lactic acid bacteria cultures, and strained once the desired curdling is achieved. It can be classified as fresh acid-set cheese. Traditi ...

such as Italian

ricotta Ricotta ( in Italian) is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after th ...

. The Mató from the villages near the Montserrat mountain, such as

Ullastrell Ullastrell is a village in the province of Barcelona and autonomous community of Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' ...

and

Marganell Marganell is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Bages in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the northern slopes of Montserrat, and is also known as Santa Cecília de Montserrat in reference to the Benedictine monasteries A monastery ...

,Marganell Town Hall page
is quite famous. Mató is mentioned in the , a 14th-century Catalan cookbook, as well as in the '' El Noi de la Mare'' local

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

. It was very popular during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, when it was made plain or scented with

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

flowers.Vicent Canet. ''Mató, un producte típic català.'' In

La Vanguardia ' (; , Spanish for "The Vanguard") is a Spanish daily newspaper, founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan (Spanish copy is automatically translated into Catalan). It has its headquarters in Barcelona and i ...

, 16 April 2006 It is made by hand by boiling the milk and coagulating it with a vegetable element such as the thistle flower (''Cynara cardunculus''), lemon juice or an animal element ( rennet). The resulting product is filtered through a cloth in wicker or cane containers. A white, slightly sweet pasty mass is thus obtained due to the effect of the concentration of lactose in the milk. Industrial manufacturing uses the same physical-chemical principle but

pasteurized Pasteurization American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mi ...

milk and large-capacity stainless steel tanks are used. Mató is consumed as a dessert. It can be sprinkled with sugar, although the most traditional way is the one that uses honey to sweeten it. It is also used in some preparations such as cottage cheese cake (''Greixonera de Brossat''), as well as the preparation of a cake such as coca de brossat (''coc de brossat'').

References

External links

*
Mató recipe
Catalan cuisine Goat's-milk cheeses Sheep's-milk cheeses Whey cheeses Cream cheeses Desserts {{catalonia-cuisine-stub

Description and origin

See also

References

External links