Country of origin Catalonia Texture Soft | Source of milk Cows, goats | |
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Similar Tupí, Escalivada, Botifarra, Pastisset, Esqueixada | ||
How to create mat cheese from fresh milk
Mató ([məˈto]) is a fresh cheese of Catalonia made from cows' or goats' milk, with no salt added.
Contents
It is usually served with honey, as a traditional and emblematic Catalan dessert known as mel i mató.
Description and origin
Mató is a whey cheese similar to non-industrial variants of the fresh cheeses known as Brull in Maestrat, Ports de Beseit and the Southern Terres de l'Ebre and as Brossat in Andorra, Pallars, Menorca, Mallorca and parts of Occitania, as well as the brocciu in Corsica and other types of curd cheese such as Italian ricotta.
The Mató from the villages near the Montserrat mountain, such as Ullastrell and Marganell, is quite famous.
Mató is mentioned in the Sent Soví, a 14th-century Catalan cookbook, as well as in the El Noi de la Mare local Christmas carol. It was very popular during the Middle Ages, when it was made plain or scented with orange flowers.
