Green Bodul, coming from the island of Krk, was one of the top ten hard cheeses in the world.
The Magriž Family Farm was registered 13 years ago. Their garage became a dairy where the cheese is prepared according to the old recipe – with no cooking and pasteurization. The dairy was built with loans and grants, reports agrobiz.hr on July 23, 2016.
Vesna Mrakovčić had no intention to keep making ordinary white cheeses, so she started experimenting at night, when everything went silent, including her husband and their four children. She turned the kitchen into a laboratory and developed Black Bodul (Črni bodul) – a cheese which has a dark rind because it matures in walnut leaves. Her Green Bodul (Zeleni bodul) has added rosemary flavour.
The family’s Magriž cheese matures in sage and immortelle, and they also make cheese with olives, as well as smoked cheese, while the latest product is Pepelko which ripens in the ashes, Mirjenko Mrakovčić explains. They received many awards at competitions, have three gold medals and are two times Croatian champions of quality. “At the Spalatum Expo we have received the award for best food souvenir, our mix of Krk cheeses”, says 54-year-old Vesna.
Their products have already crossed the borders of Croatia. Two years ago, Green Bodul scored 99.65 of 100 points at the World Championship in Wisconsin, United States, and entered the group of top ten best hard cheeses in the world.
And who knows what would have happened in Italy if their cheese was presented to the jury in time. But, the shipment of samples was stopped at the border because their cheese has a round seal, and for a cheese to leave the country it has to have either an elliptical or square stamp. “By the time the cheese arrived after all, the evaluation had already ended. But, the jury gathered again to analyze it and it received a special recognition. If it had arrived in time, who knows, we could have been number one in the world”, Vesna says.
This was not the only barrier on their way. They have faced many bureaucratic obstacles, including the county not wanting to give them grant to start the production of cheeses telling them that they were not confident that the family would spend the money the right way. But they did not give up and are now planning new investments, including in agro-tourism.
