Would you eat casu marzu, cheese made with maggots?

DW (English)

Bite into this cheese from Sardinia at your own peril. Cazu marzu is made with maggots. If they're still alive when eaten, they can harm your health.

Transcript

00:00This cheese is not for the faint of heart.

00:04That's because casu marzu is laced with maggots.

00:11I like it with lots of maggots in it, but also with few.

00:14The more maggots, the more intense.

00:18The cheese is as strong as the people who live here.

00:21Strong as granite.

00:25Casu marzu can actually be harmful to your health.

00:28If the maggots are still alive, they can damage the digestive tract.

00:32But that won't stop its fans from indulging in it.

00:36There's nothing dangerous about it.

00:38Nothing at all.

00:39It's a completely natural product.

00:43Still, the sale of casu marzu is strictly forbidden.

00:47So, who produces it and why?

00:51We're on the Italian island of Sardinia,

00:54which is known for upholding all kinds of old traditions.

01:00Farming here revolves mainly around sheep,

01:03which provide milk for the island's trademark cheese, pecorino.

01:08We'll see how pecorino becomes casu marzu in a moment.

01:14There are around three million sheep on Sardinia,

01:17mostly Pecora sarda, a breed that produces a lot of milk.

01:24It's tradition, our culture.

01:27There are a few cows in Sardinia,

01:29but it's the sheep that really belong here.

01:35At Fattoria Istentales, a small cheese dairy,

01:39cheeses are still handmade every day in keeping with tradition.

01:44First, the milk is heated to 36 degrees Celsius.

01:48Then, rennet is added,

01:50which provides the enzymes needed to turn milk into cheese.

01:56It's a hard and exhausting job that is slowly dying out.

02:01Young people, well, they would prefer to do something else.

02:08The first thing I always do is make a cross. It's tradition.

02:12After about an hour, the curd is ready.

02:15It is then heated again and filled into molds,

02:18followed by a few squeezes to remove any excess whey.

02:23It's a process that requires skill and a great deal of care.

02:28Finally, the fresh cheese is placed in a salt bath.

02:33After six to seven hours,

02:35I can take it out and put it on the shelf to mature.

02:38This is what the pecorino looks like after maturing.

02:41But how does it become casu marzu?

02:46There's a fly that makes the cheese.

02:48It's a small fly, not the kind that flies around your house,

02:51but a cheese fly.

02:55And all it takes is a small crack in the cheese.

02:59The fly goes in, lays its eggs,

03:01and soon the house will be full of cheese.

03:05The fly goes in, lays its eggs,

03:07and soon the hatched maggots eat their way through the inside.

03:13Casu marzu literally means spoiled cheese,

03:15which was once thrown away.

03:17Now it's a Sardinian delicacy.

03:20The maggots out here are already dead.

03:25But to know if the cheese is ready, we have to open it.

03:35Well, it's not quite there yet,

03:37but in here it's already proper casu marzu.

03:42The maggots' hard work digesting

03:44has made the cheese creamier and changed its consistency.

03:53You eat it with the Sardinian bread, pane carasau.

03:57The cheese is spread on top, and now we eat.

04:01Wonderful.

04:03This one is really strong and spicy.

04:06But what's it like if you're not from Sardinia?

04:09Our reporter dared to find out.

04:13Have courage. Relax. It's delicious.

04:20Quite spicy.

04:24It's a little spicy.

04:27Quite spicy.

04:36Some wine with it?

04:40It really has a very strong taste.

04:43I mean, it still tastes like cheese,

04:46but like a very, very strong one.

04:48And I think I should forget about what happened in this cheese,

04:52or I will never eat it again.

04:55For those with a milder palate,

04:57pecorino will be more up your alley.

04:59But for the bold and brave,

05:01casu marzu is a must-try if you get the chance.

05:05It's unmatched.

05:07It's only made in Sardinia

05:09and doesn't exist in any other part of the world.

05:11So you either eat it here or not at all.

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