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While some people prefer to stay rather safe with their food, others are all about the adventure it can bring. These people love trying certain foods that to others might seem borderline inedible.
Like casu martzu—a cheese made from milk and maggots. Yes, that’s right—larvae are added to it on purpose and later consumed along with it. If you think that no one would eat that—you’re sorely mistaken. This cheese keeps being produced after it’s been banned and proclaimed to be the most dangerous one by the Guinness World Record. Despite all of this, some are willing to pay quite a pretty penny for it.
Some foods might seem borderline inedible to the average person, but for certain foodies, they are a delicacy
Image credits: Johan Nilsson / TT
Sardinia, the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, is famous for quite a few things—beaches, nature, archeological sites, local customs, and food.
The latter includes pane carasau (or bread sheets made from flour, water, salt, and yeast), which is also used for other meals; culurgiones (ravioli-like stuffed pasta), Zuppa Gallurese (bread, sheep broth, and cheese), and many others.
But probably the weirdest food coming from this island is cheese called casu martzu (or, according to some sources, it’s called casu martzu, casu modde, casu cundídu, and casu fràzigu). What makes it so weird (and special) is one ingredient: beside Sardinian sheep milk, this cheese contains live insect larvae, or in simpler terms—maggots.
This cheese from Sardinia is among these delicacies. It’s made from milk and maggots, which would likely be a hard sell for even the most daredevil of foodies
Image credits: @emanueleferrari96
Yes, you read that right—it’s made with maggots. While the larvae aren’t actually a sign of cheese being spoiled, there are variations of its English name being “rotten/putrid cheese.”
It’s made by cheese skipper flies that lay eggs in cracks to form a cheese, usually fiore sardo, the island’s salty pecorino. Maggots hatch, make their way through the paste, and digest proteins, transforming the product into a soft creamy cheese.
Then, the cheesemonger cracks open the top and people can eat its delicious innards. There’s a possibility of spinning the cheese through a centrifuge to merge the maggots with the cheese, but there are some who prefer it to be un-mashed.
Yet, there are some who are more curious of it than grossed out by it, and they’re willing to pay a lot of money for it—$100 per pound
Image credits: @emanueleferrari96
Those who are brave enough to taste this cheese say that the intense flavor reminds them of the Mediterranean pastures and has a spicy aftertaste that stays for hours. So, it’s not for everyone on all fronts.
If the name and its components weren’t enough to make you rather uncomfortable, in 2009, the Guinness World Record proclaimed casu martzu to be the world’s most dangerous cheese due to the health concerns it causes.
For instance, maggots can carry harmful microorganisms, which can cause infections in a person’s body. They’re also capable of surviving in the stomach acid and remaining in the intestine, which can lead to what’s called pseudomyiasis—the “accidental” appearance of parasites inside a living body. This could result in abdominal pain and blood, mucus, and even maggots themselves being found in the stool.
Due to its unusual ingredient, this food item has been banned in many countries and is even considered to be the most dangerous cheese in the world, as its larvae could pose potential health risks
Image credits: @curieuxlive
While some report that there have been no recorded cases of health disturbance related to casu martzu, there are some folks, like this TikToker, who claim to have been hospitalized after consuming it.
To protect customers from these health risks, this cheese has been banned in many places for years now. Yet, Sardinians aren’t planning to stop producing, selling (even if illegally), or eating it anytime soon.
That means that the only place the foodies can get it is on the black market, but that doesn’t stop it from being popular in the region
Image credits: @emanueleferrari96
In fact, casu martzu is dubbed one of the most expensive food items one can buy. Its estimated cost is $100 per pound. So, the black markets are making bank selling this banned (and kind of cursed) cheese.
Well, as the people’s reactions to it online show, to each its own—some people cannot handle even the thought of such an atrocity being edible, while for others it’s their favorite kind of cheese. That just proves that, as long as there’s demand, there’s going to be supply, no matter how banned or disgusting the product might seem to be.
Would you try this cheese if given the opportunity?
The netizens’ reactions to this cheese proves that to each their own—some people can’t handle the idea of such an atrocity being edible, while others preach about its amazing taste
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