It is believed that the most unusual and strange dishes are prepared only in exotic countries. But this is not so. For example, in Italy, cheese is considered a delicacy with mold. However, in comparison with another dairy product, it will seem like just flowers. A more disgusting product is cheese with worms. No, he is not spoiled. It is specially prepared and eaten with great pleasure.
Usually people, without hesitation, throw rotten foods into the bin, and even more so with lively "stuffing." And this rotten cheese is consumed voluntarily, and even pay money for it. However, the Ministry of Health warns of eating such a specific treat. But first things first.
Delve into history
The treat itself with larvae is called kasu marzu. The birthplace of cheese is the island of Sardinia, which is part of Italy. Apparently, in this country there is a special love for sour-milk delicacies. Who originally invented this unusual dish, the story is silent. One can only assume that once one farmer accidentally left a head of cheese infected with fly larvae to ripen. Then he felt sorry for throwing away an expensive product, he tried it and advertised it. Be that as it may, worm cheese has become a traditional dish in Sardinia, which is not averse to feast on the locals and even tourists.
Farmers did a lot of work to produce this delicacy. It all started with the milking of the sheep and ended with the transportation of the finished product. Often the exposure depended on the time the shepherd spent on the field, because they made a delicacy outside his home. It is noteworthy that the cheese with the larvae of the cheese fly was made exclusively for his family. It was rarely taken for sale, and then, if something remains. Each farmer called his product “my cheese” and could recognize it among other heads not only by taste, but also by appearance. This was due to the fact that each family had a special recipe for cooking.
Cooking technology
Today worm dishes are made on the basis of the Sardinian variety of pecorino cheese, which is cooked from sheep’s milk. A semi-finished product is cut and exposed to fresh air, where flies instantly fly on it to lay several thousand eggs. This is what farmers need. When the future cheese with worms is infected enough, it is put on a shelf in the store.
After hatching, the larvae feed on an unprepared delicacy and produce vital products that accelerate fermentation - the decomposition of fats. Due to the accelerated decay of the texture, the cheese becomes very soft, and a liquid begins to flow out of it, which locals conventionally call tears. Readiness is determined by eye - according to the degree of activity of the worms and their number. In one head there can be several thousand!
In time, the whole process takes an average of three months. The finished product is really rotten, with a pronounced smell and a greenish-brown tint. It turns out that Kasu Marzu is a cheese with live larvae that do not stop crawling while eating. This is what is popular and strange Sardinian delicacy. The cheese produced in Piedmont is a bit like it. Only the head after egg laying is soaked in a mixture of white wine, grape juice and honey. This is done in order to prevent the larvae from hatching.
A bit about cheese flies
These flies are very tiny, on average, their narrow body reaches four millimeters. Being agile, they usually live close to fisheries, smoke houses, grocery stores and cheese factories. During the mating period, these flies lay 40 to 120 eggs. And they do it for fresh, smoked or salty foods: ham, lard, cheese, caviar, fish and other products that will attract them. But people don’t hide the marza from Marz at all.
The laid eggs perfectly develop in the heat, and the hatched larvae are incredibly viable. So, they can easily exist in a strong salt solution and up to thirty hours in kerosene. Not surprisingly, these tenacious insects are common around the world.
Cheese Fly Maliciousness
Fisheries from this winged insect suffers significant damage, because its population is often simply huge. Cheese fly is the causative agent of all kinds of miases (parasitic diseases). When its larvae get on the skin of people working in food enterprises, they cause festering wounds on the forearms, palms and other areas. This is because they are introduced under the epithelium.
If the worms penetrate the digestive tract, then this can result in the destruction of individual sections of the mucous membrane, pain in the spoon and typhoid-like diseases. As you can see, cheese with larvae of a cheese fly can result in health problems. Everywhere, people exterminate these insects by all kinds of means, but not in Sardinia.
The consequences of eating cheese
People eating a Sardinian delicacy put themselves in great danger. What can such experiments lead to?
- Allergic reactions.
- Toxic poisoning.
- Stomach ache.
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea with blood.
- An intestinal infection that results in damage to internal organs.
It is difficult to disagree here that such consequences are too high a price for a piece of delicacy. However, the locals themselves argue that when eating cheese, the larvae must be alive, then everything will be fine.
Do not change your mind about eating? Then cover your eyes, not your nose!
Sardinian cheese with worms is rightfully considered the most dangerous in the world. But poisoning is not all that the larvae can do. The fact is that they move not only by crawling, but also by jumping. Moreover, they can jump 15 centimeters in height. That is, right in the face of an extreme eater. Often worms do this out of fear, and not out of a desire to specifically harm. Be that as it may, in order to avoid damage to the eyeball, it is recommended to cover the eyelids or wear special safety glasses.
The taste of unusual cheese
In fact, it is very difficult to describe the taste of kasu marza. Some note a very tender, viscous, creamy consistency, the second highlight a spicy, bitter note, for the third the delicacy is too sharp and burning, like a fire in your mouth. Fans of unusual food claim that the worm dish tastes like the most ordinary pasta with cheese. Some Sardinian residents honestly say that this delicacy is not so tasty to try and eat worms. But they don’t argue about tastes, because everyone has their own addictions in food.
You with or without larvae?
Many residents of Sardinia eat cheese directly with larvae, but there are always squeamish people. Therefore, there are several ways to eat a wormy delicacy. Brave eaters put on special goggles, cover their eyes with their hand, or simply don’t even bend low to the table.
To get rid of the living filling, a piece is wrapped in a dense sheet, depriving the worms of oxygen. They begin to jump and, with a characteristic crash, break on paper walls. When everything calms down, the larvae are considered dead, and then the meal begins. However, cheese with worms that have died cannot be consumed, as they become toxic.
It’s impossible to simply remove a thousand larvae. Therefore, the cheese makers are trickier. They put the head in a plastic bag and tightly knotted. Worms leave their home from a lack of oxygen, all that remains is to shake off the extra inhabitants.
Features of eating a dish
A crust of cheese is not eaten, it is customary to eat only its inner soft part. Delicacy is divided into small pieces or cut off the top. Cheese pulp with larvae is taken out with a spoon or fork. Some Sardinian residents prefer to do this with traditional local cakes. Cheese is spread on one bread slice, and covered with another so that the worms do not jump into the eyes. Such an unusual dinner is necessarily accompanied by a glass of strong red wine (cannonau), which residents also prepare on their own.
Kasu Marz cheese: price and points of sale
The cost of the delicacy is quite high - two hundred dollars per kilogram. Worm cheese is usually sold in tightly closed containers in small pieces of two hundred grams. However, this does not greatly smooth the situation. After all, tasting a treat costs about two thousand rubles!
Try to find cheese with larvae. Previously, it was officially banned for sale, but since 2010, the dish still received the title of cultural heritage. The delicacy is not sold in stores; it can be found on the market or ordered from local cheese makers.
If you are distinguished by unusual taste preferences and someday you will be in Sardinia, then take a piece of bread and go in search of Kasa Marz. Just remember the dangers of this treat and think carefully about the consequences.