Motal cheese is a goat cheese flavored with herbs that is made throughout the Caucuses, particularly in the mountainous regions of eastern Armenia. The cheese-making technique dates back about 5,000 years and is in danger of disappearing. Insider traveled to the town of Chambarak, Armenia about two hours north-east 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 terracotta pots in wood ash. Ruslan and his family worked to bring the cheese to production by collaborating with Slow Food International, an organization that aims to preserve ancient food and tradition all over the world. Even though Ruslan has perfected the traditional cheese-making method, selling motal cheese comes with obstacles. The biggest hurdle is that European legislation prohibits the import of dairy products from non EU countries. But selling within the country is also difficult because the handmade cheese is made at a limited quality and is more expensive than the Armenian-market cost of cheese. Despite international regulations and being far from the capital, Ruslan 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.
