Food Adventure 9: Casu Marzu

Hello fellow food adventurers! This is Drew here, welcome to another delicious addition of our summer food adventures! Today I have quite the treat for you cheese lovers out there as I will be writing about the infamous delicacy Casu Marzu: rotten cheese swarming with thousands of live fly larvae! Delicious!

Casu Marzu is a sheep' milk cheese that hails from the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy located in the Mediterranean Sea. The locals there, not being content with the pungent aroma and biting taste of lesser ordinary sheep' milk cheese, deliberately infest this abomination with hundreds of eggs from the cheese fly Piophila casei and leave the cheese outside - uncovered- to allow it to fester. 

"Rotten Cheese"

Once the eggs hatch, the larvae eat through the cheese, producing enzymes as a waste product that promotes fermentation and breaks down the cheese's fats which dramatically softens the cheese's texture, making it ready for consumption. Once the cheese is sufficiently fermented, it is sliced into thin strips (maggots and all), laid onto flatbread and served with a strong red wine.

The cutting of the cheese is supposed to be a traumatizing affair, with maggots often leaping up to 6 inches high when disturbed. To protect their eyes from these acrobatic larvae, locals often wear eye patches and/or safety goggles. Another safety precaution exercised by locals is wrapping the cheese is a plastic bag and suffocating the maggots. This method is predominately used by people who don't wish to ingest live maggots, however it is looked down upon by purists who claim eating the live maggots adds to the cheese's flavor and eating experience.

Yum!

Casu Marzu is described as a very soft cheese which oozes 'tears' known as langrima that adds incredible bite to its already potent taste. The flavor of the cheese is said to be very pungent, and is often described by locals as being so strong that it burns on the tongue. Casu Marzu is very popular among the locals of Sardinia and the cheese is often presented at special events such as birthdays and weddings. 

Despite its popularity in Sardinia, Casu Marzu is actually illegal to purchase in shops due to health regulations and the ingestion of Casu Marzu has been known to induce significant illnesses such as enteric myiasis and intestinal larval infection. Patients who contract intestinal larval infection by ingesting the maggots in Casu Marzu reportedly experience severe abdominal pains and bloody diarrhea as a result of the cheese larvae burrowing through their intestinal walls.

Piophila casei larvae

In spite of the significant health risks, Casu Marzu remains in high demand and although it can not be legally sold in shops, it can be bought on the black market for double the price of ordinary cheeses. Would you be willing to risk eating Casu Marzu? What other crazy foods do you know of? Let us know in the comments below!