You've got to be Djoking! Tennis star Novak buys up world's supply of donkey cheese at £400 a pound for new restaurant chain

Some of us might find the idea of donkey milk cheese hard to stomach at any price.

However, aficionados of the rare delicacy are apparently prepared to pay up to £400 a pound for it.

And from next year, even that will not be enough to secure a supply, after tennis star Novak Djokovic bought up the entire 2013 output of the Serbian farm which produces it.

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It takes 25 litres of fresh donkey milk to make a single kilogram of the finished cheese

Tennis champion Novak Djokovic is opening a chain of restaraunts in his native Serbia, and wants the donkey cheese, known as pule, to be a main attraction

The Zasavica farm, which lies 50 miles west of the Serbian capital Belgrade, boasts a herd of 130 and is said to be the only place in the world where donkeys are milked for cheese

The cheese, known as pule, will be one of the key attractions at a chain of restaurants the Wimbledon champion and world number one is opening in his Serbian homeland.

By agreeing to buy the entire supply, he hopes to ensure there will be enough to go round – although it is not clear how much he will charge for a portion.



The delicacy is produced on a donkey farm in Zasavica, set amid one of Serbia’s most famous wildlife and nature reserves.

The manager of the Zasavica cheese company, Slobodan Simic, says the donkeys provide his produce with a unique taste.

It takes 25 litres of fresh milk to make a single kilogram of the finished product.



A white crumbly cheese, it has been compared to Spanish manchego – which costs around £6 a pound – but with a deeper, richer taste.

The delicacy is produced on a donkey farm in Zasavica, set amid one of Serbia's most famous wildlife and nature reserves

Zasavica also produces bottled donkey milk, as well as bars of soap produced from the liquid

Since donkey milking machines are not produced commercially, the females, or jennies, are milked by hand three times a day

Mr Simic said the company agreed to sell its entire year’s production to the tennis ace largely because he would be a great ambassador for its little-known product.



‘It will save a lot of effort having to deal with various restaurants – with only one customer buying the lot we don’t have to worry too much about salesmen.

‘It is a great vote of confidence as well in what we do here.’



The Zasavica farm, which lies 50 miles west of the Serbian capital Belgrade, boasts a herd of 130 and is said to be the only place in the world where donkeys are milked for cheese.



Since donkey milking machines are not produced commercially, the females, or jennies, are milked by hand three times a day.



A white crumbly cheese, pule has been compared to Spanish manchego, but with a deeper, richer taste

The manager of the Zasavica cheese company, Slobodan Simi, said they agreed to sell the entire year's production to the tennis ace largely because he would be a great ambassador for the little-known product

'It will save a lot of effort having to deal with various restaurants - with only one customer buying the lot we don't have to worry too much about salesmen,' he said

Donkey milk is said to be particularly healthy for humans as it has anti-allergen properties, and contains only one per cent fat

Zasavica also produces bottled donkey milk, as well as bars of soap produced from the liquid.



Donkey milk is said to be particularly healthy for humans as it has anti-allergen properties, and contains only one per cent fat. It also has 60 times more vitamin C than cow's milk.

Cleopatra, of course, was famously said to have maintained her beauty by bathing in asses’ milk.

Other super-premium cheeses include a Swedish product made from the milk of the moose, which costs around £300 a pound, and the similarly expensive Caciocavallo Podolico, produced from a rare Italian breed of cow which supplies milk only during May and June.

VIDEO: World's most expensive cheese - made from donkey milk...



