This could end up being a huge export commodity one day for Somalia.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.
