CASU MARZU

well here is another interesting ’food’

Casu Marzu — a putrefied cheese infested with live, wriggling maggots.

To craft this noxious specialty Sardinian cheesemakers encourage the cheese fly, Piophilia casei, a.k.a. the “cheese skipper,” to lay eggs in their pecorino cheeses.

 (“Pecorino” is a general Italian term for sheep milk’s cheese.) One traditional method is to drill in the block of cheese and slip in a drop of oil to attract the vermin.

But the effort isn’t always needed. While cheese skippers originally evolved to scavenge decomposed corpses, they’ve taken enthusiastically to the cured and fermented foods of humans.

Casu Marzu is a local delicacy in very high demand. It’s a highly pungent, super soft cheese that oozes tears (“lagrima”), and fittingly so, as it tends to burn on the tongue.


Some say Casu Marzu tastes like an extremely ripe Gorgonzola. That is, of course, without the savoury blue veins and with a whole lot of larva. One piece of Casu Marzu may be populated by thousands of living, breathing maggots.


In fact, local Sardinians will tell you the spicy, creamy cheese is only okay to eat if the maggots are still moving. Apparently, once the maggots are dead, the Casu Marzu has gone bad – decayed to a point that’s too toxic for human consumption.

Casu Marzu cannot be legally sold in Italy, but mountain shepherds continue to produce it in small quantities for the black market. It’s often kept under the table, but only for the most trusted customers. Selling or serving it is punishable by a hefty fine.


If you find yourself with strong stomach and a local Sardinian connection, Casu Marzu may be procured – for about twice the price per pound as regular Pecorino. It’s generally served with thin slices of Sardinian bread (pane carasau) and a strong, red wine called Cannonau.


One final note of caution, some people wear eye protection when eating Casu Marzu: the maggots are known to jump as high as six inches and straight toward the eyeballs with exact precision. At a minimum, make a maggot sandwich and shield your eyes with your hand as you take a bite.


Buono appetito!