Here's the thing: the dairy mooseum rocks!

Attention curd nerds! To celebrate the history of milk in the region, head to Al Khawaneej

Dubai is home to a number of museums, right from the newly opened state-of-the-art Etihad Museum, a homage to the founding fathers of the UAE, and on to the camel, horse, coin museums, and more. As someone who has spent her whole life in the city and visited all these attractions, I recently came across a museum that piqued my interest - the GCC's only Dairy Museum. Located in Al Khawaneej, and just a half-hour drive from the city, it's another feather in Dubai's cap.
If you are someone who loves their tall glass of milk (like me), have you ever wondered about the journey it makes before reaching supermarkets? I assumed that dairy farms would usually be far-removed from the city but, to my surprise, I found that Al Rawabi's dairy farm is not far out in the desert and it produces a whopping 275,000 litres of fresh milk every day! The company has started family days on the farm that introduce visitors to the processes and technology it takes to produce thousands of litres of fresh milk. To me, milk is a symbol of strength and health and I was pumped to see what was in store. The farm tours take place on Friday and Saturday and can be booked on Al Rawabi's website - the Dairy Museum can only be seen as a part of the tour.
Excited and eager to check out the museum, I started my drive on a hot Saturday morning at 9am. Thirty minutes later (I didn't get lost thanks to the GPS!), I found myself parked outside the farm. I had to leave my car out and hopped on to a bus that would take us around. I found myself in the company of enthusiastic children, accompanied by their parents, who couldn't contain their delight at seeing real, live cows in the city.
Our first stop was the Dairy Museum itself where we were greeted with a 'welcome to the mooseum' sign. The walls were covered with the white and black cow prints, with welcome written in different languages. As we made our way around, the information boards on the walls changed from greetings to interesting facts about cows and milk, in both English and Arabic. For instance, did you know cows chew at least 50 times per minute!
Dr Ahmed Eltigani A Raheem Al Mansouri, CEO, Al Rawabi Co LLC, told Khaleej Times, "We decided to build this museum because there is no dairy museum in all of the GCC. In Europe, most of the countries that are known for their dairy industry have a museum. So this is a one-of-a-kind initiative in the region. The purpose is to educate people about the history of milk and dairy products".
There was a corner highlighting the old milk production methods before technology took over and transformed the process. Also, there were dummies of people milking camels as well as cows (this made the children giggle and they happily posed in front of the exhibits). The museum also gave an insight into the history of the dairy industry in Europe and the different equipment used and artefacts from the good old days.
A trip around the museum took around 20 minutes and I discovered some fascinating facts about Europe's history of milking, as well as found out tidbits about the GCC's dairy history.
After leaving the museum, the farm trip continued where we got to see cows in their resting areas as well as the cooling process and transportation of milk from the farm to the plant.Al Mansouri said, "We are telling the story of making milk, cheeses, and butter in the olden days, as compared to the recent industry. We get a lot of schools coming here and the first stop as part of the farm tour is a trip to the dairy museum. Our aim is to educate people as well as to create a space where they can enjoy themselves and learn and know more about the history of the dairy industry."
On the way back on the bus, one of the kids declared that for him the 'mooseum' (he did say it like that) was the highlight of the trip because of the fun exhibits and I couldn't have agreed with him more.
deepa@khaleejtimes.com
Deepa is a proud geek and a Bournvita girl

• UAE
• Dubai