Casu Marzu - Anna,DoYouKnow

One of Italy’s most famous cheeses is filled with maggots and illegal for sale

Just the basics

Sardinia is a large Italian island in the Mediterranean
It is the home of the traditional casu marzu, which translates to “rotten cheese”
Casu Marzu is a special type of cheese, filled with maggots
It is made from an ordinary block of pecorino, infested with fly larvae
The larvae secrete a special acid, which breaks down the cheese
The cheese is eaten with the insects still living inside it
Because of health concerns, it is illegal to sell since the 1990s
On the neighboring island of Corsica some villages make a slightly different version of the cheese

Pristine beaches, tasty cheese and ...maggots?!

Sardinia is Italy’s second largest island. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, right between the Iberian and Apennine Peninsula, it is very old and beautiful. Famous for its incredible nature, pristine beaches and scenery canyons, it also has a rich cultural heritage. However, among the different traditions, there is one, which may cause most people to hastily turn away.

Casu marzu is a type of cheese, native to the island, made out of sheep’s milk. What is so special about it is that it is filled with live maggots, for which it is sometimes described as the most dangerous cheese in the world. The way it’s made is pretty simple. First the milk is heated and left to settle for a couple of weeks and curdle. This results in a wheel of pecorino, a perfectly safe and ordinary type of cheese. Next, a piece of crust is cut away and sometimes a bit of extra milk is poured in. It begins to spoil, drawing in flies who then lay their eggs inside. Over the next two or three months the larvae hatch and begin to eat the rotting cheese. During this they release a special acid which breaks down the hard cheese, making it creamy and ready to eat. It is important to note, that the cheese is eaten as the maggots are still alive inside it, as if they’re dead, that means that it has most probably gone bad.

When eating, you should close your eyes, as the maggots are known to jump up as much as 15 cm when feeling threatened.For those who would prefer to eat their cheese maggot-free, they can put it in a sealed paper bag. The larvae, starved of oxygen, will jump out in an attempt to escape, leaving the cheese clean. It is not hard to imagine why this particular delicacy raises several health concerns. Apart from the overall hygiene issues, if the maggots make their way through the stomach and survive, they can cause severe intestinal problems. For this reason, the EU has banned its commercial production and sale since the 1990s.

Cover your eyes

When eating, you should close your eyes, as the maggots are known to jump up as much as 15 cm when feeling threatened. For those who would prefer to eat their cheese maggot-free, they can put it in a sealed paper bag. The larvae, starved of oxygen, will jump out in an attempt to escape, leaving the cheese clean. It is not hard to imagine why this particular delicacy raises several health concerns. Apart from the overall hygiene issues, if the maggots make their way through the stomach and survive, they can cause severe intestinal problems. For this reason, the EU has banned its commercial production and sale since the 1990s.

Just north off the coast of Sardinia lies the French island of Corsica, where a variation of the cheese, called casgiu merzu, is made is some of the villages in the south. Would you try it?