Do people still eat casu marzu?

You eat it anyway. But to the European Union food health authority, casu marzu is a creamy, squirmy wheel of intestinal parasites waiting to happen—commercial production and sale of the cheese have been banned since the 1990s. You can’t sell food that’s rotten.”

What happens if you eat casu marzu?

Casu Marzu If that isn’t horrifying enough, you have to eat this cheese while the maggots are living. Once dead, the cheese becomes toxic. The risk of course is maggots burrowing into your stomach or worse, enteric myiasis, a disease that includes severe stomach cramps and nausea.

Do you eat the maggots in casu marzu?

Dead maggots are usually an indication that the cheese has gone bad. Thus, casu marzu is to be consumed when the maggots are still alive. When eating the cheese, one is meant to close their eyes. It’s not to avoid looking at the maggots as you eat them but to protect your eyes from them.

Does casu marzu taste like?

The cheese is left in a dark hut for about two to three months so the fly eggs can hatch into larvae. As the larvae eat the rotting cheese, it passes through their bodies and the excretions give the cheese a distinct flavor and texture. The robust Casu Marzu flavor is said to taste akin to that of a ripe gorgonzola.

Is casu marzu illegal?

It’s illegal to sell or buy casu marzu. When tourists visit Sardinia, they usually wind up in a restaurant that serves porceddu sardo, a slowly roasted suckling piglet, visit bakers who sell pane carasau, a traditional paper-thin flatbread, and meet shepherds who produce fiore sardo, the island pecorino cheese.

Where is casu marzu made?

Sardinia Island
Casu marzu literally means ‘rotten cheese’ and is made exclusively in Sardinia Island. The cheese contains live maggots and is a part of the Sardinian food heritage. It is made up of sheep milk and belongs to the Pecorino family.

How is casu marzu eaten?

When the cheese has fermented enough, it is often cut into thin strips and spread on moistened Sardinian flatbread (pane carasau), to be served with a strong red wine like cannonau. Casu martzu is believed to be an aphrodisiac by Sardinians.

Where does casu marzu come from?

Fly larvae cheese: Known as casu marzu, this cheese hails from Sardinia and is completely forbidden here. Because of its status as a traditional food, the cheese managed to maintain its legal status within the European Union.

Where is casu marzu illegal?

Sardinia
Casu marzu is registered as a traditional product of Sardinia and therefore is locally protected. Still, it has been deemed illegal by the Italian government since 1962 due to laws that prohibit the consumption of food infected by parasites.

What is the background history of casu marzu?

This delicacy originates from the Italian isle of Sardinia and is deemed a secret treat for those brave enough to try the unusual dish. Banned for sale by the European Union, this creamy, spreadable cheese is best enjoyed slathered on Sardinian flatbread (pane carasau) accompanied by a full-bodied glass of red wine.

How do you make casu marzu?

Casu Marzu is a cheese made in Sardinia, Italy. To make, you start with pieces of Pecorino Sardo cheese. You set the cheese out in the open, uncovered, and allow cheese flies (scientific name “Piophila casei”) to lay eggs in the cheese. The eggs hatch into transparent white maggots about 1/3 inch (8 mm) long.

Is casu marzu expensive?

Casu marzu is startlingly expensive and can cost up to $100 per pound (via Insider Monkey)!

How do people eat casu marzu cheese?

Some locals spin the cheese through a centrifuge to merge the maggots with the cheese. Others like it au naturel. They open their mouths and eat everything. Casu marzu is made with sheeps’ milk.

Can you eat casu marzu with dead maggots?

Dead maggots are usually an indication that the cheese has gone bad. Thus, casu marzu is to be consumed when the maggots are still alive. When eating the cheese, one is meant to close their eyes. It’s not to avoid looking at the maggots as you eat them but to protect your eyes from them.

What is the history of casu marzu?

There is no exact record, Sardinians have made Casu Marzu for longer than anyone can remember. Actually it is such a simple thing, a natural process, that it must have surely just happened: an ancient sheppard found out that a wheel of cheese which had gone bad and was swarming with maggots was… delicious!

Where can I find casu marzu in Sardinia?

When tourists visit Sardinia, they usually wind up in a restaurant that serves porceddu sardo, a slowly roasted suckling piglet, visit bakers who sell pane carasau, a traditional paper-thin flatbread, and meet shepherds who produce fiore sardo, the island pecorino cheese. Yet, if you are adventurous enough, it’s possible to find the casu marzu.