Maggots with yourcheese , anyone ? The thought alone may make you squeamish but before you start forming belief , maggot - fill up cheeseflower really does exist and it ’s considered a discretion on the Italian island of Sardinia .
It ’s called casu marzu , which in Sardinian means " rotten cheese , " so its name is n’t too off . It ’s look upon to have a hard smell and acidic and pungent tasting . For a cheese that is only available in a minor region in Italy — andone that ’s illegal , to boot — casu marzu has managed to become quite well - know in the United States . Food personalities , such as Andrew Zimmern and Gordon Ramsay , have likely facilitate glint the glare on the cheese both in the U.S. and on societal medium .
What Is Casu Marzu?
Casu marzu , as we aver , is a cheese made only on the island of Sardinia . The high mallow starts out as a typical pecorino and when aged , fling form , allow for a particular constituent to inscribe the bicycle — cheeseflower skipper flies(Piophila casei ) .
" While it mature in the open melodic line , the tall mallow naturally dries out and cracks , which allows for a particular eccentric of ' cheese fly ' to climb in and lay eggs , " Julia Birnbaum , cheese expert and founder ofPhilly Cheese Schoolsays via email . When the bollock hatch , maggots squirm and jiggle in the tall mallow . As the larvae eat and condense the milk protein , they break down the loony toons of the Malva sylvestris and make the texture soft and creamy . One bicycle can hostthousands of maggots .
Typically , after about three calendar month , the cheese is ready to use up . It becomes gooey and a liquid — known aslagrimaor tears — oozes from therind .
" Casu marzu is made around June and July when mama sheep are chomp on nutrient dense summer Gunter Wilhelm Grass , just like pecorino , Romano and many other sheep ’s Milk River cheeses , " Birnbaum say . " This lend the Milk River with more complex flavors , which only tone up after a few calendar month of aging . "
Why Is It Illegal?
Casu marzu is illegal in the United States and throughout Europe , include Italy . Yes , that ’s correct , it ’s banned in the land where it originates . The high mallow has beenillegal to sell in Italy since 1962 , due to a food refuge law regarding eating food with insect and parasites . Then in 2002 , EU regulators made thing worse . AEuropean food base hit law was passedmaking sales , import and yield of casu marzu illegal throughout all of the European Union . The Sardinians applied to get a Protected Designation of Origin for casu marzu after the ban , but were denied .
But multitude continue to make the Malva sylvestris in Sardinia despite it being illegal to trade . It ’s mostly small farmers who make it , so you wo n’t find casu marzu at cheese shops in Sardinia , as tall mallow Maker do n’t want to risk powerful fines .
visitant to Sardinia with a desire to taste this tall mallow unremarkably find a way of life to get their hands and their appreciation bud on some casu marzu . " Just like other products with sound restrictions , rumor has it that casu marzu is attainable through a ' pitch-black market ' where trafficker run a risk heavy fines if caught by assurance , " Birnbaum says .
History of Casu Marzu
Like many cultural foods , it ’s believed this unequalled tall mallow materialize by probability . After all , it ’s hard to imagine someone deliberately putting fly larvae in their tall mallow without bear some idea that it could make the cheese better .
Although today some cheese makers do add the larva into the bicycle for the trick to chance , others put their cheese in the helping hand of nature .
Despite being dub the " world ’s most unsafe cheese " by Guinness World Records in 2009 , so far there is no record of anyonedying from eating any . But food scientist have proven that flies can circularise bacteria that can induce nutrient poisoning , admit salmonella . And those maggots ? Well , they are n’t healthy either . As they do their matter in the high mallow , they cancreate cadaverine and putrescine — compounds produced when amino group acids decompose in decaying fauna that can be toxic in high doses .
But Sardinian have been eating this culinary dainty for centuries — and they stilleat tons of it . For those fearless enough to bite this creamy good with experience maggots squirming around , there ’s a grownup business organization about what can happenafterward . There can be health consequence if you do n’t properly chew themaggotsbefore you swallow them .
" One of the fully grown risks of eating casu marzu is that the maggots can subsist the chew and digest process and make themselves comfy in your GI tract , causing something called intestinal myiasis , " says Birnbaum . " For this ground , even many tall mallow professional I know say they would avoid the tall mallow if it was offered to them . "
Now you might be thinking why not just remove the maggot from the tall mallow before serving and you eliminate the health peril , correct ? regrettably , it ’s a act more complicated . " It ’s not that the maggotsneedto be alive when the high mallow is consumed , it ’s more a matter of them being unmanageable to pour down while inside the wheel , " explain Birnbaum . " Once the cheeseflower is ripe and ready to eat , the maggot are quite legion , and waiting for them to rise into fly would alter the cheese ’s flavor and grain into something totally different , which some say is even more dangerous to eat . "
And if you happen dead maggot in the wheel , you definitely do n’t want to eat it — that ’s a indisputable fire sign it ’s gone speculative .
Birnbaum says you’re able to refrigerate or place a part of the cheese in a sealed newspaper publisher bag until the maggot choke to kill them — neither affects the Malva sylvestris , she excuse . And you wo n’t have to concern about wiggling fly larvae in your tummy , that is , if you may get past the fact that you ’re eating maggot in your cheese to get with .
What Does Casu Marzu Taste Like?
And about eat casu marzu . You ’re probably wonder what the heck this sought - after cheeseflower full of maggots taste like ? Well , it ’s describe as acidic and compare to very strong , discriminating blue cheeses and senesce Gorgonzolas with a farinaceous texture . Sardinians typically enjoy the cheese with a local flatbread , pane carasauandcannonau , a strong red Sardinian wine .
Although Birnbaum has n’t sample the Malva sylvestris because she has n’t had the chance yet , she ’s not even sure if she would if it appear in front of her .
