If you're ever in the mood for something special, be sure to try pule cheese! Pule cheese, touted as the world's most expensive cheese, is made from donkey's milk rather than cow's—good news for those who have allergies to cow's milk. So what is pule cheese? And where is it made? Read on to find out 4 fascinating facts about pule cheese!
1. Made only on one Serbian farm!
Pule cheese is only produced in one place on earth, the Zasavica Special Nature Reserve in Serbia, where a team of farmers milk over 200 donkeys. These Balkan donkeys are a rare breed of endangered species that only live in three areas of the former Yugoslavia. With a rich flavor and soft consistency, pule cheese is made from 60% donkey milk and 40% goat milk.
2. Accident behind pule cheese!
Donkey cheese was accidentally cultivated by Slobodan Simić, a former Serbian MP and Zasavica Special Nature Reserve Manager. At that time, there were fewer than 1,000 donkeys in Serbia, so the main objective was to save this species. Then Slobodan decided to make a farm to produce milk. However, the idea of cheese was brought up only once there were 200 donkeys.
3. $1320 per kilo!
Unlike cows which can produce up to 60 liters of milk per day, female donkeys can only produce two liters, and they only produce milk once they have given birth to a baby—each female donkey carries a baby for a year and two weeks. One kilogram of pule cheese requires 25 liters of donkey milk, which is why it is so expensive -- around US$1,320 per kilo.
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