Say cheese!
So what’s our eighth expensive ingredient after Kopi Luwak, Matsutake Mushroom, Yubari Melon, Caviar, Truffles, Coffin Bay King Oysters and Hop Shoots? It is Moose Milk Cheese. Brought to you from Bjursholm, in north Sweden, and not any other major cheese producing nations like France! This Swedish cheese is at the high end of high-end. Why? Because it can only be made from the milk of three moose cows named Gullan, Haelga, and Juna. These three cows happily reside at the “Moose House” which is a 59 acre farm and is a part of The Elk House (Älgens Hus) farm in Bjurholm run by Christer and Ulla Johansson. Something as exciting as this can definitely attract visitors too – about 25,000 a year is what the Moose House does!
Talking about the price – the Moose Milk Cheese is outrageously priced at $455 per pound! Would you really want to spend this much on some cheese? Well, we leave that totally on you!
#8 – Moose Milk Cheese
Also known as one of the rarest kinds of cheese, the Moose Milk Cheese’s priciness is a result of many other attributes. It is strenuous, when to milk a single one, it takes somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours and each cow would only produce one gallon of milk in one day. Like this wasn’t enough, when the only time that is suitable for milking this trio is between May-September, when they are in heat and are calving. And that’s not all – the milk (containing 12% each of fats and proteins), then undergoes refrigeration and is curdled three times in a year. All this to annually produce 660 pounds of cheese!
And not to forget, the availability ain’t that easy as well. After the Moose House makes these three cheeses, they either reach the posh kitchens of upscale Swedish restaurants/hotels or are available for sampling or buying from the farm’s tasting room! So, now you know where to head for if you want to savour this expensive cheese.
With a sublime flavour, unlike cow’s milk cheese, the Moose Milk Cheese is tasty and healthy. It contains a high quantity of solids and butterfat alongwith good levels of zinc, selenium, aluminium and iron. Probably the reason why nutritionists highly recommend it and the patients of Ivan Susanin Sanitorium in Russia are served. Justifies the price as well!
So, wherever you are on this planet, if you get your hands on some of this exotic cheese or a dish that uses this cheese – do not miss the chance to try it! The entire experience will definitely be priceless!
As we move towards the final two ingredients on this list, let the ‘foodie’ in you share the thrilling stories and recipes that you end-up dishing or eating! We absolutely love receiving them and then reading and trying them in our kitchens!
From My Kitchen 