PDO butter from Alt Urgell and Cerdanya
The Protected Designation of Origin butter from Alt Urgell and Cerdanya is a butter with an intense and very unctuous smell and taste. Its commercial production began in 1915, when the Cadí cooperative was formed.
The butter from Alt Urgell and Cerdanya has a solid and homogeneous consistency and, in the mouth, causes a high feeling of freshness. Very unctuous, it is easy to melt and does not stick to the palate. The color is uniform, without impurities, with shades of bright yellow, the result of its natural richness in carotenoids or provitamin A. Given the absence of added dyes, the yellowish tint varies depending on the season: more accentuated in summer and more dull in winter. The smell and taste are intense, with an intense taste of fresh cream and without taste defects but slightly acidic, so they recall the taste of hazelnut. Butter is made exclusively from Frisian cow's milk. Milk is collected daily. In the elaboration, a process of skimming of milk is followed, and the cream obtained is cooled, pasteurized – to eliminate possible microorganisms – and degassed – to eliminate foreign odors that may affect the aroma.– The cream is then subjected to a new cooling to start a ripening process, during which it will be sown in mixed crops with its own characteristic aroma. This system, which includes the butter ripening process, is typical of Alt Urgell and Cerdanya. Subsequently, the ripened cream goes through a smoothie process until the right butter grain (the size of a grain of rice) is obtained, which is regular and homogeneous. This grain is cleaned so that it gives off the remnants of leewater and then pastes until a compact block of butter is obtained. The process ends with molding and packaging. The use of any type of added dye, nor the presence of antibiotic residues or fermentation inhibitors is allowed.
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DOP
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Productes de la terra
Cheeses and dairy products
Season calendar
- GEN
- Feb
- Sea
- Apr
- Never
- JUN
- JUL
- AUG
- THIRST
- OCT
- nov
- From
Complementary information
Although there is no information on the production of butter prior to the nineteenth century, it is known that in the houses of the Pyrenees it was made, for own consumption, with the cream of milk. The process began with the milking of the cows, handmade and with wooden buckets, from a three-foot stool. Then the cream was separated and left to ripen in a winery or cellar with an almost constant temperature and humidity throughout the year and sheltered from the sun. After two or four days, the cream was beaten in wooden butters, where the grain was separated from the mother waters. The grain was kneaded until the butter was obtained, which was kept in wooden containers inside those cellars or cellars. In 1915, the Cadí Cooperative was formed, which brought together the farmers of the area and guided the collection of milk towards the production of butter for marketing. Since then, new technologies have been introduced to improve the quality of this product.
Attributes and nutritional properties
This butter is distributed and sold in specialized stores. It is packaged in blocks or other formats with a weight ranging from 125 g to 1,000 g, wrapped in metallized and parchment paper, with the labeling established in the PDO regulations: the trade name, the mentions required by current legislation, the name and logo of the DOP Mantega de l'Alt Urgell and La Cerdanya, as well as the community symbol of denominations. Its forms of consumption are multiple: alone with a toast, combined with jams or honey, combined with smoked fish... It is a basic ingredient for the preparation of homemade desserts and cakes and a prominent ingredient in the preparation of gratins, béchamels and many other recipes. Its consumption is widespread.
