Among Italian mountain cheeses, Bettelmatt holds a special place: produced in very small quantities in the highest mountain pastures of the Val d’Ossola, it is considered by many connoisseurs to be one of the country’s finest and rarest cheeses, with a retail price that can reach €100 per kilo.
A name that tells the Walser story
The name Bettelmatt has ancient origins, dating back to the Walser colonisation of the region, and comes from the combination of two German words: “bettell”, alms, and “matt”, pasture. The cheese, whose history dates back to the 13th century, was also once used as a means of exchange, to pay rents or alpine pasture concessions: a true “beggars’ pasture” that shows just how valuable this production already was centuries ago.
Nine mountain pastures above 2,000 metres
Bettelmatt is produced exclusively in nine mountain pastures located above 2,000 metres in altitude, between Valle Antigorio and Val Formazza, in the municipalities of Formazza, Premia and Baceno, in the far north of Piedmont. It is a full-fat, semi-cooked, pressed cheese with a straw-yellow colour, made from raw, whole cow’s milk and processed immediately after each milking directly in the mountain pastures.
The scent of mutellina
Bettelmatt’s distinctive and recognisable aroma is linked to the mix of high-mountain herbs and flowers on which grazing cows feed, including mutellina (Ligusticum mutellina), an aromatic herb typical of the Antigorio and Formazza Alpine areas. It is precisely this unique flora that gives the cheese its sweet, delicate flavour, allowing it to melt pleasantly in the mouth.
Hot branding
Authentic Bettelmatt can be recognised by a logo applied through hot branding, added after a minimum ageing period of 60 days: a certification system that makes it possible to distinguish the original product from any imitations with certainty, protecting both producers and consumers.
Why it works with wine
A cheese this intense, rich and savoury needs a wine capable of standing up to it without being overwhelmed. Structured red wines, with good acidity and noticeable tannins, are generally the most natural pairing: they cleanse the palate of the cheese’s richness and complement its savouriness without flattening it. A full-bodied white wine with good acidity can also be an interesting choice for those who prefer contrast rather than a matching intensity.
Anyone wishing to try this pairing can do so at one of our tastings, matching Bettelmatt with a glass from our selection: an opportunity to compare first-hand two expressions of the Ossola area that are so different, yet so close.
A product to seek out carefully
Precisely because of its rarity, Bettelmatt is not always easy to find outside the production season. It is worth asking at local dairies and farm stays, or at shops specialising in mountain cheeses, to be sure of taking home an authentic product, recognisable by its hot branding.
For points of sale and seasonal availability, the most reliable reference remains the Tourist District of the Lakes, Mountains and Valleys of Ossola or the dairies and farm stays of Val Formazza.
Knowing the history and characteristics of Bettelmatt also helps to better appreciate its value when it appears on the table: not simply a cheese, but the result of work passed down through generations in the most remote mountain pastures of the Val d’Ossola.
Finally, it should be remembered that Bettelmatt’s rarity also makes it a product that is occasionally subject to less scrupulous imitations, sold under similar names but without the official hot branding: all the more reason to rely on trustworthy purchasing channels when looking for the authentic product, and not to be misled by a price that is excessively low compared with the standards of a cheese so rare and labour-intensive to produce.
