Asturias cheese sells for €14,300 at auction

Although the cheese, produced by the dairy firm Valfriu, 'only' started at €1,000, the battle between 15 restaurants saw the price sky-rocket within seconds.

One of the most sought-after varieties of cheese, the Cabrales frequently nets impossible-sounding sums at auction, although this year, the eatery El Llagar de Colloto, in Oviedo, has paid four times the final figure an identical piece sold at in 2017.

This said, the sum normally bid for a 'wheel' of Cabrales is less than the huge amounts the equally-highly prized Idiazabal cheese usually fetches.

Last year, half a 'wheel' of Idiazabal fetched €8,000, although another same-sized piece auctioned in Navarra and bought by celebrity chef Leandro Gil went for a 'mere' €4,550.

Until now, the highest-ever sum paid for a full 'wheel' of Cabrales was €11,000, which was in 2011.

Culinary experts have speculated the recent sale at €14,300 could be a sign of a 'food-market bubble', but they also concede that the restaurants who buy these cheeses have not only always recovered their investment in serving them, but even made a profit from them.