Cheese with worms kasu marzu. Cheese with larvae of cheese flies

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, a delicacy is cheese with mold. However, in comparison with another dairy product, it will seem just a flower. More disgusting product - cheese with worms. No, he's not spoiled. It is specially prepared and eaten with great pleasure.

Usually people, without hesitation, throw foul foods into the trash can, and even more so with live "stuffing". And this rotten cheese is consumed voluntarily, and even money is paid for it. However, the Ministry of Health warns about eating such a specific delicacy. But first things first.

Take a closer look at the history

The very delicacy with the larvae is called kasu marzu. The motherland of the cheese is the island of Sardinia, which is part of Italy. Apparently, this country has a special love for sour-milk delicacies. Who originally came up with this unusual dish, history is silent. One can only assume that one day a farmer accidentally left the cheese head ripe, infected with fly larvae. Then he was sorry to throw out an expensive product, he tried it and advertised. Be that as it may, wormy cheese has become a traditional dish of Sardinia, which locals and even tourists are eager to feast on.

To produce this delicacy, farmers performed many works. Everything started with the milking of sheep and ended with the transportation of the finished product. Often the exposure depended on the time of the shepherd's stay on the field, because they made delicacy outside their home. It is noteworthy that cheese with larvae of cheese flies made exclusively for their families. For sale it was rarely transported, and then, if something remains. Each farmer called his product "my cheese" and could recognize it among other heads not only to taste, but also in appearance. This was due to the fact that each family had a special recipe for cooking.

Technology of preparation

Today, worm-eat foods are made on the basis of the Sardinian type of pecorino cheese, which is brewed from sheep's milk. The half-finished product is cut and exposed to fresh air, where flies fly to it instantly, to lay several thousand eggs. This is what farmers need. When the future cheese with worms is infected enough, it is removed to the shelf in the vault.

After hatching, the larvae feed on an unprepared delicacy and produce the products of vital activity, which accelerate the fermentation - the decomposition of fats. Due to the accelerated breakdown in texture, the cheese becomes very soft, and liquid begins to flow out of it, which the locals call conditionally tears. Readiness is determined by eye - by the degree of activity of worms and their number. There can be several thousand in one head!

By the time the whole process takes an average of three months. The finished product turns out to be really rotten, with a pronounced smell and a greenish-brown tinge. It turns out that kasu marzu - cheese with live larvae, which do not cease to crawl during eating. This is why the strange Sardinian delicacy is popular. It looks a bit like cheese produced in Piedmont. Only the head after the deposition of eggs is soaked in a mixture of white wine, grape juice and honey. This is done in order to prevent the larvae from hatching.

A little bit about cheese flies

These flies are very tiny, on average their narrow body reaches four millimeters. Being agile, they usually live near fisheries, smoking factories, grocery stores and cheese shops. During the mating period, these flies postpone from 40 to 120 eggs. And do this for fresh, smoked or salty foods: ham, lard, cheese, caviar, fish and other products that attract them. But people do not hide from them at all.

Deferred eggs develop well in the heat, and hatched larvae are incredibly viable. So, they can safely exist in a strong salt solution and up to thirty hours in kerosene. Not surprisingly, these tenacious insects are spread all over the world.

Harmfulness of cheese flies

Fish farming from this winged insect suffers considerable damage, since its population is often simply huge. The 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 embedded under the epithelium.

If worms penetrate the digestive tract, then this can result in the destruction of individual parts of the mucosa, pain in the pit of the stomach and typhoid-like diseases. Apparently, cheese with larvae of cheese flies can turn into problems for health. Everywhere people exterminate these insects in every possible way, but not in Sardinia.

Consequences of eating cheese

People, eating Sardinian delicacy, put themselves in great danger. What can lead to such experiments?

• Allergic reactions.
• Toxic poisoning.
• Stomach ache.
• Vomiting.
• Diarrhea with blood.
• Infection of the intestine, which ends with damage to the internal organs.

It's hard not to agree that such consequences are too high a price for a piece of delicacy. However, the locals themselves say that when eating cheese, the larva must be alive, then everything will be fine.

Have not changed your mind about eating? Then cover your eyes, not your nose!

Sardinia cheese with worms is rightfully considered the most dangerous in the world. But poisoning is not all that larvae can do. The fact is that they move not only crawling, but also jumping. And they can jump to 15 centimeters in height. That is right in the face of an extreme consumer. Often worms do this for fear, and not out of a desire to harm specifically. Be that as it may, to avoid damage to the eyeball, it is recommended to cover eyelids or wear special protective goggles.

Taste of unusual cheese

In fact, it's very difficult to describe what flavor has a taste. Some note a very delicate, viscous, creamy consistency, the second distinguish spicy, bitter notes, for the third the delicacy is too sharp and searing, like a fire in your mouth. Lovers of the same unusual food claim that the wormy dish tastes like the most common pasta with cheese. Some Sardinian residents honestly say that this delicacy is not so tasty to try and eat worms. But the tastes do not argue, because everyone has their own eating habits.

Are you with or without larvae?

Many Sardinians eat cheese directly with larvae, but there are always fastidious people. Therefore, there are several ways to eat a worm delicacy. Brave eaters wear special protective goggles, cover their eyes with their hands or do not just bend low to the table.

To get rid of the live filling, the piece is wrapped in a dense sheet, depriving worms of oxygen. They begin to jump and with a characteristic crack break about the paper walls. When everything is quiet, the larvae are considered dead, and then the meal begins. However, cheese with worms that died, can not be consumed, as they become toxic.

Just to remove a thousand larvae is impossible. Therefore, cheese makers act more cunningly. They put the head in a plastic bag and tightly knotted. From lack of oxygen, worms leave their home, it remains only to shake off excess inhabitants.

Features of eating a dish

A crust of cheese is not used for food, 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 get a spoon or fork. Some Sardinian residents prefer to do this with traditional local tortillas. For one bread slice, they spread cheese, and others cover it up 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 the residents also prepare themselves.

Cheese marzu: price and place of sale

The cost of 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 alleviate the situation. After all, to taste a delicacy costs about two thousand rubles!

Find the cheese with the larvae you still need to try. Previously, it was officially banned for sale, but since 2010, the dish still received the title of cultural heritage. In the shops, the delicacy is not for sale, it can be found on the market or ordered from local cheese-makers.

If you have unusual taste preferences and someday will be in Sardinia, then take a piece of bread and go in search of the ticket to the march. Just remember the harm of this treat and think carefully about the consequences.