If you are planning to host a degustation party at home and want the most luxurious choices for your menu, then here's a quick guide on which cheeses will give your guests the finest degustation experience.
There are hundreds of varieties of cheeses to choose from, with different flavours, textures and even colours, depending on how each type is processed and which animals produce the milk used. Cheese is nutritious, but the process of making it is laborious and the milk sources can be rare, which is why some types of cheeses are way more expensive than others. But of course, their rich flavours make them definitely worth the price!
· Caciocavallo Cheese
The caciocavallo cheese, originating fromItaly, is a pear-shaped cheese made of cow's milk that costs about $42 per pound. After the acidification and coagulation, the cheese is stretched and hung upright. This allows the cheese to age and to get its pear or tear shape. In ancient times, the cheese is straddled on the back of horses so it can continue the aging process during travels.
· Bitto Cheese
A popular product of Valtellina inLombardy,Italy, bitto is a cheese made from whole cow's milk. A small portion of goat's milk is also added to give it a distinct, stronger flavour. The production season of bitto cheeses is usually between March and November, and are later on sold in hard and semi-hard varieties at around $150 per pound. Its degrees of hardness depend on how long the cheese had been aged, which can be from a little over a month to up to 3 years.
· Moose cheese
A sole producer inSwedenuses moose milk for making moose cheese. The cheese is highly valued, priced at around $455 per pound. Cheese varieties include blue, rind-style and feta-style. This cheese is also served in the restaurant owned by the producer.
· Pule Cheese - ~$600/lb
Another rare type is the pule cheese, which comes from the milk of Balkan donkeys in Belgrade,Serbia. Pule cheese is white in colour and has a very rich taste. In order to make 1 kilogram of pule cheese, you will need 25 litres of donkey's milk, which is why each pound can cost up to $576. And since production is limited, you also have to order the pule cheese in advance just to be sure it arrives in time for your party.
If it is quite impossible to find these choices at the time of your preparation, then you can also go for the Gorau Glas or the Gold Stilton, which contains real, edible gold.
Bitto Cheese
