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Casu marzu |
| Casu marzu | |
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| Country of origin | Italy |
|---|---|
| Region, town | Sardinia |
| Source of milk | Sheep |
| Pasteurised | No |
| Texture | Soft |
| Aging time | 3 Months |
| Certification | none |
Casu marzu (also called casu modde, casu cundhídu, or in Italian formaggio marcio) is a cheese found in Sardinia, Italy, notable for being riddled with live insect larvae. Casu marzu means "rotten cheese" in Sardinian and is known colloquially as maggot cheese.
Derived from Pecorino Sardo, casu marzu goes beyond typical fermentation to a stage most would consider decomposition, brought about by the digestive action of the larvae of the cheese fly Piophila casei. These larvae are deliberately introduced to the cheese, promoting an advanced level of fermentation and breaking down of the cheese's fats. The texture of the cheese becomes very soft, with some liquid (called lagrima, from the Sardinian for "tears") seeping out. The larvae themselves appear as translucent white worms, about 8 mm (1/3 inch) long. When disturbed, the larvae can jump for distances up to 15 cm (6 inches).[1] Some people clear the larvae from the cheese before consuming; others do not. The cheese has recently appeared on Gordon Ramsay's television series The F-Word.
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Yaroslav Trofimov, in the August 23, 2000, edition of The Wall Street Journal, describes the cheese as "a viscous, pungent goo that burns the tongue and can affect other parts of the body". Susan Herrmann Loomis reports an encounter (in a 2002 Bon Appétit article):
He … grabbed a piece of pane carasau, the traditional flatbread of Sardinia, rinsed it quickly under water to soften it and went to a large glass jar on a side table. He opened the jar, scooped out a mound of what looked like thick cream, and folded the bread around it. …When he was finished I asked what he had eaten, and he got up to show me. Inside the jar was pecorino, busy with small, white worms. I'd heard about this cheese, but this was the first time I'd gotten so close. … A friend of his … said, 'It's formaggio marcio [literally, "rotten cheese"], cheese with worms. It's a delicacy. It's the most beautiful gift you can give a Sardinian shepherd.'
The cheese is typically consumed with Sardinian bread (pane carasau) and Cannonau, a strong red wine.
Several food safety issues have been raised with casu marzu:
Besides the casu marzu, there are several other regional varieties of cheese with fly larvae:
In Piemonte, specifically the alpine mountains (Maritime Alps) on the border with France, the fermentation procedure is not always analogous to that of the casu marzu. For example, the cheese is left to the open air until Piophila casei larvae are naturally laid in the cheese. Then it is aged in white wine, grapes, and honey, preventing the larvae from emerging, giving the cheese a strong flavor. Other regions in Europe possess cheeses with analogous use of live arthropods in aging and flavoring, such as the German Milbenkäse and French mimolette, both of which rely on cheese mites.
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