{"id":8467,"date":"2026-10-19T23:32:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T14:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8467"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:50:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:50:44","slug":"mattentaart","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/mattentaart\/","title":{"rendered":"Mattentaart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Break the thin pastry lid and a filling containing fine curd grains appears; in the mouth, you notice the gentle tang of milk. Belgium\u2019s mattentaart is a small round pastry in which matten, made from cow\u2019s milk, is turned into a filling with eggs, sugar and other ingredients. It is representative of Geraardsbergen in Flanders and is called tarte aux matons in French. Artisans in the town have long made the matten produced by farmers into pastries.<\/p>\n

Making curds from milk and enclosing them in pastry<\/h2>\n

Tangy buttermilk is added to warmed milk, with a little vinegar if necessary, to make it coagulate. The curds are gathered in a cloth and hung to drain off the whey and remove moisture. The filling of mattentaart uses these curds, not grated hard aged cheese. The curds are finely ground and mixed with egg yolks and sugar, and egg whites whipped separately are then added for lightness. Some formulas also add the aroma of almond.<\/p>\n

Because the fat content and condition of matten also vary with the season, artisans adjust the amounts of egg and sugar and the way of mixing. Matching the weights of the ingredients is not enough; adjustments suited to their condition are needed. The filling is placed in pastry dough lining a tin, the top is covered and the edges are sealed tightly, egg is brushed on, and a small cut is made in the center with scissors. As the area around this steam vent opens, a flower-like shape forms at the top, and you can enjoy the textures of well-baked pastry and moist milk filling.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A cut mattentaart. White curd filling is visible beneath the pastry. Photo: Sandra Fauconnier, 2005-02-06, location unknown. Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY 4.0<\/a>. Original size, no additional processing.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
A round mattentaart placed on paper (July 2005, location unknown). The pastry has opened from the cut at the top, and the surface is browned. Photo: Volkov Vitaly (Kneiphof) \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 1.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version from Commons obtained. No alterations to the content or cropping by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

From records of curds and pastries to a town specialty<\/h2>\n

On farms, milk, which was difficult to keep, was separated into curds and whey for use. A hospital in Geraardsbergen has records of purchasing matten curds in the 16th century. As for mattentaart as a pastry, the town set quality rules for its sale in 1665, and Maria Theresa confirmed those rules by decree in 1752.<\/p>\n

It was around the end of the 19th century that this pastry, previously baked at home and on farms, came to be made in large numbers in the town\u2019s bakeries. It appears not only at fairs, birthdays and celebrations but also on the table after funerals. In the late 1970s, a trade association was formed in the area of production, and since 1980 a \u201cMattentaart Day\u201d with demonstrations in the town square has also been held, making the method public.<\/p>\n

A traveler who walked around Geraardsbergen wrote of seeing several bakeries displaying mattentaart along Brugstraat, which runs from the town square toward the station, and in the shopping street beyond it. It is a pastry you can find in the town\u2019s shopfronts, not only on festival days.<\/p>\n

\n\"The\n
The square in Geraardsbergen on \u201cMattentaart Day,\u201d April 21, 2019. This festival scene shows giant figures and gathered people; the pastry itself does not appear. Photo: Spotter2 \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Image obtained from the distribution source. No alterations to the content or cropping for this article.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

16th-century cheese tarts and today\u2019s mattentaart<\/h2>\n

The early-16th-century Een notabel boecxken van cokeryen is often cited as a cookbook containing recipes (the proportions of ingredients and the methods) that preceded mattentaart. However, the \u201cbrown tart\u201d found there is made by mixing soft cheese, or hard-boiled egg yolks, with cardamom, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, mace, sugar and other ingredients. The cheese tart printed next to it combines ground cheese with eggs, butter and sage; after baking, holes are made in it and it is soaked with butter.<\/p>\n

These old tarts include spices or sage, whereas in today\u2019s mattentaart, whipped egg white is mixed into the matten and the filling is enclosed in pastry above and below. Although they have in common that they are tarts using milk and eggs, their ingredients and methods differ.<\/p>\n

Area and method for the protected name, and mattentaart in general<\/h2>\n

\u201cGeraardsbergse mattentaart\u201d (mattentaart of Geraardsbergen), registered in 2007 as an EU protected geographical indication (PGI), is a name whose area of production is the city and neighboring Lierde. The milk and matten are produced in this area, and the steps of making the filling and wrapping it in dough also take place within the area. On the other hand, the flour and butter used for the pastry may come from outside the area.<\/p>\n

The wrapped, unbaked pastries may also be frozen and finally baked outside the area. Meanwhile, mattentaart in general has spread to the Flemish Ardennes and elsewhere. In Gibecq, within the municipality of Ath in the French-speaking region, there are also farmers who make tarte aux matons as their own product and sell it directly. The generic name mattentaart includes such farm pastries, but the protected name is limited to pastries for which the origin of the ingredients and the location of the production steps are specified.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Mace \/ sage<\/strong>: The former is a spice made from the aril covering the nutmeg seed; the latter is an herb whose aromatic leaves are used. Both appear in an old cheese tart recipe.<\/p>

Maria Theresa<\/strong>: An 18th-century Habsburg monarch. She ruled what was then the Austrian Netherlands.<\/p>

Matten<\/strong>: Milk solids obtained by coagulating cow\u2019s milk and draining off the liquid. The central ingredient behind the pastry\u2019s name.<\/p>

Buttermilk<\/strong>: In this pastry, a tangy dairy product used to coagulate milk.<\/p>

Whey<\/strong>: The liquid that separates from curds; also called milk serum.<\/p>

PGI<\/strong>: An EU geographical indication system that protects the names of foods with a recognized link to their area of production.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. \n

    \u201cThe Shopping Street of Geraardsbergen and the Local Pastry Mattentaart\u201d<\/a> \u2014 a record by a traveler who walked from the square to the station and saw the pastry at several bakeries.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  2. \n

    European Commission, \u201cGeraardsbergse mattentaarten BGA\u201d<\/a> \u2014 origin of the milk and curds, optional vinegar, shaping and baking outside the area, history of quality control, festival day<\/p>\n<\/li>

  3. \n

    \u201cGeraardsbergse mattentaart\u201d product application specification, published by the Flemish Government, version of April 5, 2005<\/a> \u2014 \u00a74.4\u20134.6: how the curds are made, separating the eggs, the central cut, steps within the area and baking outside the area, research into historical sources<\/p>\n<\/li>

  4. \n

    Werkplaats immaterieel erfgoed, \u201cGeraardsbergse mattentaarten bakken\u201d<\/a> \u2014 record of techniques by local artisans, seasons and the properties of milk, tables for celebration and mourning, transition from home to shop<\/p>\n<\/li>

  5. \n

    VLAM \/ Streekproduct.be, \u201cMattentaart uit de Vlaamse Ardennen\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the pastry across a wider area, curds drained in cloth, fair food culture. The registration year given on this page has not been adopted<\/p>\n<\/li>

  6. \n

    Hainaut D\u00e9veloppement: Ferme De La Bosse Jauque<\/a> \u2014 full producer information from a regional development agency; production and direct sale at a farm in the municipality of Ath. It does not indicate differences in formula or any priority as the place of origin.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  7. \n

    DBNL critical transcription, \u201cEen notabel boecxken van cokeryen,\u201d recipes 117\u2013118<\/a> \u2014 ingredients of old cheese\/egg tarts, butter added after baking, and differences from the current type.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  8. Source cross-check for this article<\/h3><\/li>

  9. The European Commission gives 1978 as the association\u2019s founding year and the city tourist office gives 1979; because they differ, the text says the late 1970s. Regarding final baking outside the area as well, the city tourist office describes baking within the area, while the European Commission explicitly states that unbaked products may be frozen and baked outside the area. Whether the current specification has changed needs to be re-checked against the registration documents.<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Mattentaart is a pastry filled with milk curds, made in the Flanders region of Belgium. Fine milk solids called matten are combined with eggs and sugar and enclosed in a round crust. The top rises into a dome, and when the pastry is cut, a dense, pale filling appears inside the thin pastry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7516,"menu_order":238,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Mattentaart","subtitle":"Matten, made by curdling milk, enclosed in a round pastry","topics":"It begins with milk and buttermilk\uff0fCombined with eggs and enclosed above and below\uff0fConditions for the matten protected by a place name","country":"Geraardsbergen, Belgium","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["cheese","cream","butter","egg"],"texture":["crisp"],"occasion":["celebration"],"method":["baked"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[168],"class_list":["post-8467","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t