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Camel Cheese Hits U.S. Market |
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Written by Kiki Hubbard
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Wednesday, 19 March 2008 |
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New Yorkers will be the first in the nation with the option to buy camel cheese. (No, really.)
This week, select stores in the Big Apple will begin carrying Caravane, a brie-like cheese made from camel milk, for $30 a pound. Camel milk is known to be quite nutritious, actually, rich in iron and vitamins C and B. It even has more protein than cow milk.
The spreadable treat didn't pass muster in other countries, including the EU, but one U.S. importer has established a relationship with a camel dairy in Mauritania (a country in northwest Africa) where Nomads have been taking their camel herds for milking, pasteurizing, and bottling since 1989.
Though camel milk has long been a staple in desert nomad populations, camel cheese is fairly new. This is because milk from camels doesn't curdle like other milks, such as cow and goat, and it took a discovery by a French "camel expert" of an enzyme that fosters curdling to make it happen.
Although camel cheese headed to the U.S. sports a hefty carbon footprint, the Mauritanian company, called Tiviski, has helped camel herders earn a profit by making their camel milk and other products more available to local Mauritanian markets.
And it provides a unique palette experience – described as having "pleasant barnyard undertones" – as well as an educational opportunity for all who venture into the camel cheese aisle.
Source: The New York Times
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