Bettelmatt is only produced in a few Ossola summer alpine pastures; of these, the most famous and prized is that of Alpe Bettelmatt in the upper Formazza Valley.
The history of mountain pasture exploitation in the Ossola Valley has been documented since before the year one thousand. The Ossola mountains offer, even at high altitudes, wide expanses of land well sheltered from the winds for the animals to graze on, and from these characteristics the local alpine people over the centuries have been able to make cheese of great value. These are very limited productions, of just a few hundred cheeses per year each, processed in July and August and brought down to the valley by mule or, in recent years, by helicopter. Since the 2003 summer season, in order to distinguish them from the now widespread counterfeits, Bettelmatt alpine pasture cheeses have been branded with the designation mark.
Bettelmatt is a mature cheese made from raw cow's milk: it is characterised by a very intense, savoury flavour, with notes of alpine grass and stables. It is excellent with full-bodied red wines, aromatic honey, fresh fruit (e.g. Passacrassana pear), black rye bread and polenta.
Since this is an artisanal product and cannot be standardised, the images are purely illustrative.
