PULE
Resulta sorprendente conocer el origen y proceso de fabricación del que ahora mismo se considera el queso más caro del mundo. Se trata del llamado queso Pule, palabra que en el idioma serbio quiere decir potro. El queso Pule se fabrica en la reserva natural de Zasavica, situada cerca de una pequeña ciudad serbia que se encuentra al norte de Belgrado llamada Sremska Mitrovica. El curioso proceso de fabricación de este queso se inicia a partir de la obtención de la leche de una raza especial de burros que proceden de los Balcanes. En la reserva natural se encuentran alrededor de 100 de estos animales. Un solo litro de su leche cuesta alrededor de 40 euros. Para obtener un kilo de este queso Pule se necesitan al menos 25 litros de esta leche, así que es fácil deducir porque es considerado el queso más caro del mundo. El precio final de un kilo de este queso ronda los 1.000 euros. Dado el bajo nivel de grasa de esta leche, hasta ahora se utilizaba para la elaboración de otros productos como jabones, cosmética e incluso para realizar licores. Pero nunca se había utilizado para realizar queso.
Produced on the a small farm in Serbia, donkey cheese has made appearances in a $4,800 hamburger at a restaurant in Las Vegas and a $1,10o caviar-coated omelette at a plush New York hotel. Reigning tennis champion Novak Djokovic has just bought up the world’s annual supply and it is said that Cleopatra maintained her beauty by bathing in asses’ milk. Solidifying its position as one of the world’s most expensive foods, I thought it was time we get familiar with the newest delicacy on the scene. Most importantly, what does it taste like? Known formally as pule, the crumbly white cheese is said to taste similar to Spanish manchego cheese, which is similar to a mild cheddar, but with a deeper, richer taste. It’s made only from donkeys and it takes 25 litres of fresh donkey milk to make a single kilogram which will set you back a whopping 1,000 euros, making it the world’s most expensive cheese. The Serbian farm, 50 miles west of Belgrade on an animal reserve is the only known manufacturer of the cheese in the world, with a herd of 130 donkeys that are all milked by hand. But as of now, it’s so rare, you won’t even be able to get your hands on any because someone’s just bought the entire world’s supply. The Wimbledon tennis champion turned donkey cheese ambassador, Novak Djokovic, is opening a new chain of restaurants in his Serbian homeland and to make sure he had enough of the delicacy to supply his customers, he just went and bought it all.
