Banned — Casu Marzu; the legendary maggot infested cheese of Sardinia.
Let me paint you a picture. It’s an undisclosed time in pre-history. The beautiful land that will one day be Sardinia is filled with smiling shepherds, milking their sheep and making delicious pecorino cheese. But one cheese gets left behind, forgotten in a dark corner and when it’s rediscovered, an enterprising fly has laid its eggs within and its now coursing with maggots. Gross? That shepherd didn’t think so, he ate it up, maggots and all, and so Casu Marzu was born.
That is how I like to imagine the creation of the what has been labelled the world’s most dangerous cheese. But is it really?
The process of making the is complex and varies slightly from producer to producer. Essentially though, flies are encouraged to lay their eggs in pecorino (Italian hard cheese). It will then be aged, their larvae will hatch and begin to consume the cheese, then their digestive acids break down the fats, turning the cheese creamy, soft, and… filled with maggots. Flavour-wise it apparently tastes peppery and very similar to its mouldy cousin, gorgonzola
It generally considered to be off when the maggots are dead, so the cheese is eaten with the maggots still alive and kicking. It’s often eaten with flatbread and strong wine, presumably as a pallet cleanser and courage enhancer. Oh, and if you’re not grossed out enough yet, the maggots don’t like being disturbed so will often ‘leap’ from the cheese and hit unsuspecting diners, driving all but the most…