How far would you travel for cheese? Discover Europe’s best-kept cheese secrets on this epic trip

Cheese continues to beryllium 1 of nan world’s astir loved foods, cherished for its versatility, divers flavours and unsocial histories.

Varieties specified arsenic Camembert and Mozzarella person been renowned for decades and are utilized successful countless dishes and preparations crossed nan world today. However, Europe still holds galore secret, ancient cheeses, profoundly rooted successful taste identity, contented and resistance.

Made pinch centuries-old practices, these varieties are aged utilizing animal stomachs, fermented pinch unrecorded food mites, brine-washed, aliases made successful distant shepherd huts.

If you’re passionate astir cheese, this epic travel will return you from melodramatic mountains, distant villages, flatlands and much to immoderate of Europe’s much under-the-radar cheeses.

Pule cheese, Serbia

Start disconnected this unforgettable food visit successful Belgrade, Serbia, connected a quest to sensation what is wide considered nan world’s rarest and astir costly cheese, Pule cheese.

From Belgrade, travellers tin easy return a train to Sremska Mitrovica (Vojvodina), followed by a taxi aliases rental car to nan Zasavica wetlands to nan Zasavica Donkey Reserve.

The coveted cheese, made of beverage from Balkan donkeys , is only produced successful this mini reserve by a azygous cheesemaker called Slobodan Simić.

Made pinch beverage from astir 100 endangered Balkan jennies (female donkeys), sometimes blended pinch goat milk, Pule has a signature rich, nutty, earthy and somewhat saccharine taste.

Around 25 litres of beverage are needed to nutrient conscionable 1 kilogram of cheese, making Pule a staggering €1,000 per kg. Conservation efforts and donkey attraction costs besides lend to nan price. This includes having to beverage nan jennies up to 3 times a day, owed to their highly debased beverage yield.

The reserve besides offers different products made from donkey milk, for illustration cosmetics and liqueurs.

Bonus? See nan adorable donkeys and different autochthonal animals for illustration beavers and hairy Mangalica pigs while soaking successful nan pristine nature, cleanable for serene stream cruises aliases picnics.

Travellers tin enactment successful Hotel Sirmium successful Sremska Mitrovica and bask nan town’s rustic charm. Tuck into čvarci (pork crackling), section consequence brandies made pinch pears and plums called rakija astatine accepted Serbian farmhouses successful Zasavica.

Gjizë, Albania

From Serbia, travellers tin return a train aliases thrust to Podgorica, Montenegro, earlier continuing by car aliases autobus to Shkodër and onwards to villages successful nan Accursed Mountains specified arsenic Theth and Valbona.

Here, locals make gjizë, a soft, strained curd cheese, successful mini chromatic farmhouses. This food is often preserved successful clay pots pinch oliva lipid and eaten pinch peppers and herbs, and is profoundly typical of Albanian highland traditions.

Gjizë is made by acidifying beverage utilizing citric acerb aliases yoghurt, giving it a dry, sour ricotta-like flavour. It is besides utilized successful accepted dishes for illustration Albania’s celebrated Fërgesë.

While nan overseas edifice mightiness service it, travellers person a amended chance astatine a much immersive tasting acquisition if they enactment pinch a section family and effort to trek to smaller, much distant villages from Theth aliases Valbona.

Hike nan renowned Valbona-Theth Trail, which connects some valleys done nan Albanian Alps. In Theth, visitors tin hike to nan Theth Blue Eye, a earthy outpouring pinch a stunning turquoise colour, aliases caput to nan Grunas Waterfall arsenic good arsenic nan Theth Church.

In Valbona, research nan Old Mill of Valbona and lakes specified arsenic Xhema Lake, aliases return a picturesque ferry thrust connected nan Lake Koman Ferry.

Stay astatine Guesthouse Rrashkadoli successful Theth, aliases astatine Guesthouse Lazer Cardaku successful Valbona, which are some family-run, offering homemade meals.

Tuck into farmhouse dinners pinch chaotic upland herbs, gjizë connected caller breadstuff and byrek (savoury pies pinch spinach, cheese, nutrient aliases potatoes).

Caciocavallo Podolico, Italy

From Theth, thrust aliases return a autobus down to Durrës, earlier taking a ferry aliases train to Bari, Italy. Drive aliases return a train from Bari to Basilicata, for nan adjacent extremity connected this epic food journey.

Here, travellers tin sample a highly seasonal and scarce Italian gem, nan Caciocavallo Podolico cheese. This pear-shaped assortment is made of beverage from nan uncommon and semi-wild Podolica cows, autochthonal to confederate Italy.

Cheeses are tied pinch statement and hung from rafters to age, aft going done a accepted pasta filata (stretched curd) process. The ageing process tin return anyplace from 3 months to complete 2 years.

Many of nan cows roam chaotic for astir of nan year, meaning Caciocavallo Podolico is highly prized and rather rare, pinch travellers having to trek into upland shepherd dairies aliases farms successful and astir Basilicata aliases Calabria to sensation it caller during nan summertime milking season.

The food has an intense, richly analyzable and spicy flavour, which champions nan chaotic pastures filled pinch various grasses and herbs wherever nan Podolica cows roam. It has savoury notes of herbs, smoke, and toast, balanced by fruitiness and tang.

Younger cheeses are much delicate and sweet, whereas older ones create a uniquely tangy and spicy flavour and semi-hard texture pinch age.

Travellers tin enactment successful upland dairies aliases Italian farms known arsenic agriturismos, astir nan Pollino National Park, for a sensation of this elusive cheese.

Experience accepted agrarian Italian life by helping retired pinch cultivation activities connected a moving farm, while besides participating successful things for illustration oliva lipid production, vino tastings, truffle hunts and cooking classes.

Often dotted crossed remote, scenic locations crossed nan confederate Italian countryside, these farms and dairies supply a serene opportunity for slow recreation and taste immersion, pinch locally sourced, sustainable produce. Travellers besides lend to nan preservation of these agrarian areas done their visits.

Pollino National Park besides offers countless horseback riding, hiking, upland biking, canyoning, rafting and stone climbing opportunities, among different outdoor activities.

Ziger, Switzerland

From Basilicata, thrust aliases return a autobus aliases train to Naples, earlier taking a train to Milan. From there, travellers tin return different train to Zurich, earlier driving to alpine villages successful nan Bernese Oberland region specified arsenic Grindelwald and Wengen.

Here, travellers tin sample ziger, an ancient Swiss whey cheese, often flavoured pinch alpine herbs. It is made from leftover whey from different Swiss cheeses, specified arsenic Emmental, and was erstwhile considered a ‘peasant endurance food’. It has a long, rich | history, going backmost to nan 8th century, erstwhile it first started being made successful monasteries.

Ziger, specifically Glarner Schabziger, a peculiar type of ziger cheese, contains a batch of crushed bluish fenugreek, giving it a unsocial lime-green colour, a spicy, pungent flavour and a hard, gritty texture.

Rather than being eaten connected its ain arsenic a standalone cheese, it is chiefly utilized arsenic a condiment, complete potatoes and pasta, aliases mixed pinch food arsenic a spread.

Today, contempt Glarner Schabziger being Switzerland’s oldest protected nutrient brand, it is very little-known extracurricular of circumstantial Alpine regions, pinch its accumulation having declined significantly.

This is chiefly owed to a displacement distant from whey-based diets, an summation successful purchasing powerfulness and nan emergence of different Swiss cheeses. The food is besides seldom exported and usually eaten by nan farmers themselves.

Travellers tin get ziger from small farmers’ markets successful nan Bernese Oberland region and Uri, arsenic good arsenic upland dairies.

Grindelwald besides offers galore outdoor activities. Ride nan gondola to First, wherever visitors tin acquisition nan First Cliff Walk by Tissot, which is simply a metallic walkway on nan cliffside pinch panoramic views and a suspension bridge.

Soak successful nan crisp and pristine Alpine surroundings connected a hike to nan picturesque Bachalpsee Lake, aliases effort ziplining pinch nan First Flyer zipline. Rent a upland cart aliases trotti motorcycle and title down nan slopes from First successful summertime aliases research nan Glacier Canyon for stunning views from nan Mӓnnlichen viewpoint.

In Grindelwald, travellers tin enactment astatine nan Hotel Belvedere for breathtaking views aliases astatine Romantik Hotel Schweizerhof for much luxury and tuck into accepted Swiss delicacies specified arsenic rösti, ziger cheesecake and alpine cured meats.

Milbenkäse, Germany

From Zurich, return a nonstop overnight train to Leipzig, Germany, earlier driving to Würchwitz successful Saxony-Anhalt. This mini colony is nan only spot adventurous travellers tin sensation a little-known German cheese, milbenkäse.

This ancient food dates backmost to nan Middle Ages. Quark food balls, flavoured pinch brackish and caraway, are aged successful woody boxes pinch food mites and rye flour for astatine slightest 3 months, and moreover up to a year.

These unrecorded microscopic food mites, which are eaten pinch nan cheese, burrow done nan quark and excrete digestive enzymes, helping it ferment and ripen. The rind turns yellowish aft astir a month, becoming reddish-brown and past black, depending connected really agelong nan food is aged.

It has a crisp and tangy taste, pinch a zesty, bitter aftertaste, akin to Harzer cheese, pinch a unique aroma and semi-soft to patient texture, depending connected nan property of nan cheese.

The Würchwitz Milbenkäse Manufaktur is nan only commercialized shaper of milbenkäse today, pinch nan full colony revolving astir nan food and its history.

Travellers tin besides spot nan Mite Cheese Museum and food mite memorial, which is simply a statue successful nan municipality centre, further celebrating this deep-rooted medieval endurance nutrient practice. Head to nan historical colony hallway (Rathaus) aliases spell to nan St. Michaeliskirche religion for much penetration into section architecture.

Another adjacent attraction is nan Unterirdisches Zeitz (Underground Zeitz), a unsocial wartime and medieval underground passageway system, chiefly made up of brew cellars, which were besides utilized arsenic air-raid shelters during World War 2.

Stay successful hotels for illustration Lumiere Boutique Hotel successful Leipzig, only astir 45 minutes from Würchwitz. Don’t hide to dine astatine nan section inns, known arsenic Gasthäuser adjacent Würchwitz, wherever you tin get rye breadstuff pinch Milbenkäse , brew and wurst.

Urgelia, Spain

From Leipzig, return a high-speed train to Paris, past different train to Barcelona, earlier driving up into nan Alt Urgell valleys, to La Seu d’Urgell, successful nan mediate of Spain’s Catalan Pyrenees.

Here, travellers tin effort nan past food connected this epic journey- a Pyrenean rarity called urgelia cheese. This is simply a soft washed-rind cheese, only recovered successful a fewer Pyrenean valleys.

It is presently only disposable from nan Cadí Cooperative, a food and dairy cooperative successful La Seu d’Urgell. It sources beverage from complete 200 mini farms successful and astir La Seu d’Urgell, nan Alt Urgell region and Andorran borderlands.

This is nan only Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) food from Catalonia and is besides a prizewinning Spanish cheese. It is made by curdling pasteurised cattle beverage pinch rennet, past pressing nan curds into moulds. The wheels are aged for astatine slightest 45 days aft brining, during which nan rind is washed galore times pinch a yeast brine.

It has a somewhat salty, robustly buttery sensation pinch an occasional hint of acidity aliases bitterness and underlying nutty and fruity notes. The orange-brown rind gives urgelia a mild mushroomy aliases earthy aroma, too.

Travellers tin besides hike on ancient Pyrenean food routes to smaller and much distant farms for a much authentic and immersive food adventure.

The Alt Urgell region provides outstanding escapade sports, specified arsenic kayaking and achromatic h2o rafting, arsenic good arsenic upland biking, hiking and skiing successful nan winter.

Travellers tin sojourn La Seu d’Urgell’s historical cathedral aliases sojourn nan Diocesan Museum for belief artefacts. Explore nan charming aged municipality pinch its galore cafes and bars and constrictive streets, aliases return a time travel to adjacent Andorra.

Stay astatine Parador De La Seu d’Urgell for immoderate luxury, aliases astatine nan Hotel Restaurante La Glorieta for a riverside acquisition pinch a pool.

Don’t skip accepted delicacies for illustration fregit, a pork and beans dish, and mantequilla de l’Alt Urgell, a slow-ripened food pinch a unsocial flavour and aroma.