View source for Mató

{{Short description|Spanish cow or goat cheese}}
{{Infobox Cheese
| name          = ''Mató''
| image         = [[File:Cheese.Mato.Catalonia.jpeg|220px]]
| othernames    =
| country       = [[Catalan Countries]]
| region        = [[Catalonia]]
| town          =
| source        = [[sheep]], [[goat]]s
| pasteurised   =
| texture       = Soft
| fat           =
| protein       =
| dimensions    =
| weight        =
| aging         =
| certification =
}}
'''Mató''' ({{IPA|ca|məˈto}}) is a fresh [[cheese]] of [[Cuisine of Catalonia|Catalonia]] made from [[Sheep milk|sheep]]' or [[Goat milk|goats' milk]], with no salt added.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.xtec.cat/~abonet1/elaboraci%F3/formatge%20industrial.htm |title=La fabricació industrial del formatge - XTEC |access-date=2015-05-08 |archive-date=2017-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227232458/http://www.xtec.cat/~abonet1/elaboraci%F3/formatge%20industrial.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> 

It is usually served with honey, as a traditional and emblematic [[Catalan symbols#Gastronomic symbols|Catalan dessert]] known as {{Lang|ca|mel i mató}}.<ref>[http://frenchfood.about.com/od/desserts/r/melimato.htm Catalan Cheese and Honey Dessert Recipe] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405202941/http://frenchfood.about.com/od/desserts/r/melimato.htm |date=2015-04-05 }}</ref>

==Description and origin==
Mató is a [[whey cheese]]<ref>[http://www.raco.cat/index.php/QuadernsAgraris/article/view/220803 Dolors Ponsati, Ramon Clotet i Ballús, Josep Mestres, ''La problemàtica dels formatges de xerigot a Catalunya: brossat, mató, recuit.'' In Quaderns agraris, 25 December 1999]</ref> similar to non-industrial variants of the fresh cheeses known as ''Brull'' in [[Maestrat]], [[Ports de Beseit]] and the [[Terres de l'Ebre|Southern Terres de l'Ebre]]<ref>[http://www.catimenu.com/parlarcatinenc.htm El Parlar Catinenc]</ref> and as ''Brossat'' in [[Andorra]], [[Pallars]], [[Menorca]], [[Mallorca]] and parts of [[Occitania]],<ref>[http://www.andorra.ad/ca-ES/recursos/Pagines/BROSSAT.aspx Brossat - Andorra]</ref> 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)|Montserrat]] mountain, such as [[Ullastrell]] and [[Marganell]],<ref name="AjdM">[http://www.marganell.net/plantilla1.php?id=632448224 Marganell Town Hall page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213130957/http://marganell.net/plantilla1.php?id=632448224 |date=2015-02-13 }}</ref> is quite famous.<ref>[http://www.matodemontserrat.cat/ Mató de Montserrat]</ref> 

Mató is mentioned in the {{Lang|ca|[[Sent Soví]]}}, a 14th-century Catalan cookbook, as well as in the ''[[El Noi de la Mare]]'' local [[Christmas carol]].<ref name="AjdM"/> It was very popular during the [[Middle Ages]], when it was made plain or scented with [[Orange (fruit)|orange]] flowers.<ref>Vicent Canet. [https://www.lavanguardia.com/20060416/51262822071/mato-un-producte-tipic-catala.html ''Mató, un producte típic català.''] In [[La Vanguardia]], 16 April 2006</ref>

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 [[Pasteurization|pasteurized]] 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'').

==See also==
*[[Catalan symbols]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*{{commonscat inline}}
*[http://www.receptes.cat/recepta1072/mato Mató recipe]
*[http://matoullastrell.com/Mato_Ullastrell/Receptari_Mato_Ullastrell/Receptari_Mato_Ullastrell.html Desserts using Mató] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231051934/http://matoullastrell.com/Mato_Ullastrell/Receptari_Mato_Ullastrell/Receptari_Mato_Ullastrell.html |date=2020-12-31 }}
{{Spanish cheeses}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mato}}

[[Category:Catalan cuisine]]
[[Category:Goat's-milk cheeses]]
[[Category:Sheep's-milk cheeses]]
[[Category:Whey cheeses]]
[[Category:Cream cheeses]]
[[Category:Cheese desserts]]
{{cheese-stub}}
{{catalonia-cuisine-stub}}