Casu Marzu: Sardinia’s Maggot Cheese

Warning: this fact might ruin cheese for you forever. Casu marzu is a traditional Sardinian

cheese that contains live insect larvae. Yes, you heard that right. Live maggots are

intentionally added to pecorino cheese and left to decompose it from the inside. The larvae break

down the fats, creating an extremely soft texture and pungent flavor. When you eat it,

the maggots are still alive and can actually jump up to six inches when disturbed.

Some people remove them first, but traditional eaters consume the cheese with the

larvae still wriggling inside. The European Union banned it due to health regulations,

but Sardinians still make it illegally and consider it a delicacy. Eating it can cause