Is casu marzu safe to eat?

It’s an Italian cheese that’s prepared specially to turn into breeding grounds for maggots. While casu marzu may be described as a fermented Pecorino cheese, it’s actually decomposing. It’s said that the cheese is safe to eat as long as the maggots are still living.

Where is this delicacy served maggot cheese?

Sardinia
Or, if you want to be all ‘American’ about it, you can simply call it maggot cheese. Casu marzu comes from the charming Italian island of Sardinia, located in the Mediterranian Sea. The cheese is made from sheep’s milk.

What is the Italian cheese with maggots called?

Casu martzu
Casu martzu (Sardinian pronunciation: [ˈkazu ˈmaɾtsu]; literally ‘rotten/putrid cheese’), sometimes spelled casu marzu, and also called casu modde, casu cundídu and casu fràzigu in Sardinian, is a traditional Sardinian sheep milk cheese that contains live insect larvae (maggots).

What cheeses are illegal in the US?

Fancy Cheeses That Are Illegal In The US

• Casu Marzu. Most Americans would cringe at the sight of live maggots crawling through a wheel of pecorino in the fridge.
• Mimolette.
• Brie de Meaux.
• Epoisses.
• Reblochon.
• Loire Valley Raw Goat’s Milk Cheeses.
• Camembert de Normandie.

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.

What 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.

Which cheeses have cheese mites?

Mites tend to be present on the outside of hard cheeses, such as Cheddar and Mimolette. Usually, the mites can be brushed off the rind of the cheese without affecting the flavor of the cheese inside. Some people even think that mites give cheese more flavor, which is the case with Mimolette.