Warning!!! Those with weak stomachs should not read this!!!
A trivia service sent this disgusting bit of info to me:
An August Wall Street Journal dispatch from Nuoro, Sardinia
(Italy), described locals’ love for “casu marzu” (“rotten
cheese”), brown lumps of sheep dairy, crawling with maggots,
a “viscous, pungent goo that burns the tongue” and whose
“wiggling worms (often) jump straight toward the eyes with
ballistic precision.” Though the cheese is banned by the
government, a black market has pushed the price to double
that for ordinary cheese. Some locals believe the maggots
provide authentication, in that it is only when the maggots
die that the cheese is inedible.
Has anybody heard of this vile practice? Excuse me while I go vomit…
I gotta admit this has the stink of an urban legend, but I punched “casu marzu” into http://www.dogpile.com and received dozens of hits. Here’s just one that appears to be from some sort of travel service.
Can’t say I’ve ever heard of it…but double the normal price, eh? That settles it. I’m off to Italy. The contents of my refrigerator could make me millions.
It ain’t. There was a story in the Chronicle too. They interviewed some villagers, watched them eat cheese, etc. The local government even has laws against it. I doubt they would pass laws if it was an urban legend. It’s gross, but no legend.
Strangely, I read a travel writer’s report in The Independent (UK newspaper) about ‘casu marzu’ about three weeks ago. The author himself claimed to have eaten it. He said that it was made by taking unpasteurized pecorino and placing it in a sealed container with about a dozen flies. The container is then left in the sun, and the flies lay their eggs in the cheese. After about three days the cheese is ready–well, if you call rotten being ready. The author claimed that as he ate the cheese, two maggots fell out of it on to his lap.
Man, I can’t believe I just typed all that–and I’ve just eaten too.
Straight Dope or UL? I’m not sure about this one, but it seems like an awful coincidence. Emphasis on awful, I’m sure you’ll agree.
I agree that this is absolutely horrid, but why is there a law against it? Just because it ranks in the top 10 most vile delicacies? I mean, I could understand the law if the cheese made people sick (I mean really sick, not just going “Eeeeew!”) but then no one would eat it anyway, right?
Finally something to equal what I discovered in Africa!
Whilst riding through Northern Malawi, I came across some vendors on the side of the road. They had straw mats out with dozens of little black blobs on them. Being the adventurous type culinarily, I stopped. MISTAKE
Apparently the local delicacy involved the little kids catching wild field mice, then the adults would impale them butt first with rough sticks(bark on). After sun drying them for about two weeks, they were sold for the equivalent of 10 cents and eaten like crawfish. The idea of sucking sundried mice brains was just a little too much for me but I did watch some people do it. ewww
If it’s an urban legend, it’s an awfully well received one. I found the cheese mentioned at this website. Click on “Gastronomia” to see the following description: “casu marzu: all’interno della forma si sviluppano minuscoli vermi bianchi che, in tempi opportuni, riducono la pasta in crema delicata e piccante.&”
And as UncleBeer mentioned, a web search will reveal many sites that describe the cheese.
