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Equipment · Jars, pots and crocks
A handmade terracotta pot used to mature Armenian Gegharkunik motal: herb-seasoned goat curd is packed inside, rested upside down in wood ash, and sealed with beeswax.
The terracotta motal vessel is a handmade clay pot used to mature the Armenian cheese made in Gegharkunik. The cheese is prepared from goat’s milk, drained and salted, then crumbled by hand and seasoned with mountain herbs before it is packed into the pot. This is not the animal-skin container associated with some other cheeses called motal: the research archive distinguishes Gegharkunik’s terracotta-matured cheese from Azerbaijani motal pendiri in sheep or goat skin.
The reports call the vessel a terracotta pot or bowl and describe it as locally made by hand. A photograph of one example shows a compact, rounded red-clay vessel with a broad opening. The sources do not establish that all motal pots share this exact shape, nor do they give capacity, height, diameter, clay recipe, glaze or firing technique.
In the Slow Food account, the herb-seasoned curds are poured into terracotta pots and matured for 35 to 50 days. The pots are then sealed with beeswax and placed in cold, dry cellars, turned upside down and left on ashes; the cheese may age for more than six months. A report about a Gegharkunik producer describes a related sequence: the cheese is pressed tightly into handmade bowls, which rest upside down in wood ash for about a month while the ash is refreshed and liquid is removed, then the pot is sealed with beeswax.
The vessel therefore contains the packed curd during maturation and provides a surface for the final wax closure. The producer account says ash absorbs salt water draining from the cheese. Neither source characterizes the clay’s porosity or specifies a measurable temperature, moisture, capacity or seal depth, so those properties should not be inferred from the material alone.
Slow Food describes terracotta production as one of Armenia’s oldest industries and says the tradition of preserving food in pots reaches back at least 5,000 years. This dates a broad practice, not the surviving design of the motal pot. A 2018 account documents the endangered local craft and its use in a revival of motal production; the evidence does not support a precise origin date for this particular vessel.
The published accounts also describe different ageing details. Slow Food gives 35–50 days in the pot followed by cellar ageing, while the producer’s account describes about a month in ash before sealing and a further period of storage. These records need not describe a single standardized vessel or maturation schedule. No source provides empty-pot cleaning instructions, a commercial supplier, dimensions or capacity.
The Slow Food account describes an age-old motal method and says food preservation in Armenian terracotta pots dates back at least 5,000 years. That broad history does not date this particular motal vessel or prove an uninterrupted lineage for its form. Recent reporting documents locally handmade pots and the revival of the regional cheese process.
Regional association only; sources do not name a specific pottery workshop or locality.
Gut, stomach, bladder, caul and skin have held food for as long as recipes have been written down. Which part of the animal a cook chose still decides a food's shape, how it dries and smokes, and how it is eaten.
A karas is a large Armenian clay wine vessel used in several documented practices. Placement and use vary; one modern producer reports maturing wine in karasi buried about three-quarters of their height.
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Fondazione Slow Food per la BiodiversitàMethod · History · Geography
MotalGegharkunik motal is packed into terracotta pots, matured 35–50 days, sealed with beeswax and kept in cold dry cellars, turned upside down on ashes; the source describes more than six months of ageing.
The page identifies Armenia and Gegharkunik and describes terracotta production and food storage in pots as an old local tradition.
Cited in: A local pot for a regional cheese; Packing, ash and the seal; What the dates do and do not tell us
KPBS Public Media / NPRMethod · History · Geography
Armenia’s Ancient Motal Cheese Makes Its Way Into The Modern AgeA Gegharkunik producer describes pressing motal into handmade terracotta bowls, placing them upside down in ash, refreshing ash and removing liquid for about a month, then sealing with beeswax.
The article describes local craft and modern revival, but supplies no vessel dimensions or capacity.
Cited in: A local pot for a regional cheese; Packing, ash and the seal; What the dates do and do not tell us
Business InsiderImage reference
Keeping a 5000-year-old cheese-making tradition alive in ArmeniaThe inspected video still shows a motal cheese pot and its visible fired-clay form; used as an image reference, not as evidence for dimensions.
Cited in: A local pot for a regional cheese