A 5,000-Year-Old Cheesemaking Tradition In Armenia

Motal cheese is a goat cheese flavored with herbs that is made throughout the Caucasus, particularly in the mountainous regions of eastern Armenia. The cheesemaking technique dates back about 5,000 years and is in danger of disappearing. Insider traveled to the town of Chambarak, Armenia, about two hours northeast from the capital, Yerevan, to meet Ruslan Torosyan, a local who’s working to keep the cheese alive.

Preparing the cheese is a three-month process that requires sourcing goat’s milk from local farmers, preparing homemade rennet to be added to the milk, preserving the cheese in salt, adding fresh herbs to the cheese, and aging it inside terra-cotta pots in wood ash. Torosyan and his family worked to bring the cheese to production by collaborating with Slow Food International, an organization that aims to preserve ancient food traditions all over the world. Even though Torosyan has perfected the traditional cheesemaking method, selling motal comes with obstacles. He can’t sell his cheese in most European countries because motal doesn’t meet the European Union’s requirements for importing dairy products. But selling within the country is also difficult because the cheese is made at a limited quantity and is more expensive than most Armenian cheeses.

Despite international regulations and being far from the capital, Torosyan and his family spread the word by organizing master classes for tourists. They condense the three-month cheesemaking process into an hour and half to share the ancient technique.

For more, visit: http://www.motal.am.

MORE CHEESE CONTENT:
How Brie De Meaux Cheese Is Made In France | Regional Eats

The World’s Best Parmesan Makers Are Banding Together To Keep Italy’s Iconic Cheese In Production

Why Traditional English Cheddar Is Aged In Caves | Regional Eats

——————————————————

#Cheese #Armenia #FoodInsider

Insider is great journalism about what passionate people actually want to know. That’s everything from news to food, celebrity to science, politics to sports and all the rest. It’s smart. It’s fearless. It’s fun. We push the boundaries of digital storytelling. Our mission is to inform and inspire.

Subscribe to our channel and visit us at: https://www.insider.com
Food Insider on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foodinsider/
Food Insider on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisisinsiderfood/
Food Insider on Twitter: https://twitter.com/InsiderFood
Insider on Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/discover/Insider/4020934530
Insider on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/v/thisisinsider
Insider on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@insider
Food Insider on Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/foodinsider

A 5,000-Year-Old Cheesemaking Tradition In Armenia