Fair warning here folks: This article is about a cheese made by allowing a cheese fly to lay eggs in the cheese wheel. Then the larvae are allowed to eat and "process" the cheese. And then that...
Fair warning here folks:
This article is about a cheese made by allowing a cheese fly to lay eggs in the cheese wheel. Then the larvae are allowed to eat and "process" the cheese. And then that pre-digested cheese is fed to humans.
While it's not the only food processed by animal digestive systems... The main ones I know about are coffee (civets and elephants) and neanderthals eating partially digested plants from their kills' stomachs. There are also a few similar cheeses out there. So. Um. Dip out if you don't want to read that!
I took the proffered piece of casu marzu and, like a skydiver forcing himself to step out of a plane, popped it in my mouth before I could think any more about it. The flavor was strong and goaty, but not as searingly intense as, say, some Spanish cheeses that make you feel as though you’ve climbed inside a goat. It had a bold barnyard tang that simultaneously dried out my tongue and set my salivary glands into overdrive. There was no identifiable sensation of eating insects. Still, I chewed extra thoroughly, lest any guests make it down the pipe unmasticated. Theoretically, a maggot could survive the gastrointestinal tract and wreak havoc, though my gastroenterologist had given me his amused blessing before I departed.
Some Sardinians will spin you a story that it’s an aphrodisiac, others that it contributes to the so-called blue zones diet credited with the preponderance of long-lived people on the island. But the truth is that many of them just really love it.
It’s a fragile time for casu marzu. Increasingly hot summers because of climate change have affected the life cycle of cheese flies, making their work even less predictable than usual. Last year, out of about 60 wheels, only four or five of the Nieddu family’s ended up as casu marzu. (If the maggots inside a cheese are dead, it is considered inedible.)
The author makes what I think is a good point that all cheese is processed by other organisms, it's just that maggots are a bit larger than the other ones.
A decade ago, an entomologist colleague began a study that aimed to produce casu marzu under safe laboratory conditions, but nothing seemed to have come of it. The men speculated that there was little funding for casu marzu research, the problem being that there is no problem: Casu marzu makers are making casu marzu, casu marzu lovers are finding casu marzu, and so peace reigns.
Despite it being illegal, no one seems to get in trouble for it. But nor will the EU legalize it.
Sure, I'd try it. I've had similarly "strange" foods, and I feel no obligation to continue eating something if I find it truly revolting. So far, I haven't bumped into any such foods.
Sure, I'd try it. I've had similarly "strange" foods, and I feel no obligation to continue eating something if I find it truly revolting. So far, I haven't bumped into any such foods.
I have definitely seen foods I'd be unlikely to try, balut for example seems a textural nightmare. Similarly ortolan. (I couldn't think of the name and almost called it a "shame sparrow") But yeah...
I have definitely seen foods I'd be unlikely to try, balut for example seems a textural nightmare. Similarly ortolan. (I couldn't think of the name and almost called it a "shame sparrow")
But yeah I get it. Just not sure I can overcome my very western/modern/privileged "bug free" diet.
Alcohol and peer pressure definitely helped considerably when it came to balut. The texture wasn't actually that bad, although I've been told it can vary with them getting distinctly 'crunchy' if...
Alcohol and peer pressure definitely helped considerably when it came to balut. The texture wasn't actually that bad, although I've been told it can vary with them getting distinctly 'crunchy' if they're further along which I think would be a step too far for me.
For myself I have been familiar with casu marzu for quite a while, my maternal family is from Sardinia and I discovered it when doing some research on, well, all sorts of things including...
For myself
I have been familiar with casu marzu for quite a while, my maternal family is from Sardinia and I discovered it when doing some research on, well, all sorts of things including foodways. I've never been, and I think I would try it if I could from people who know how to make it, but the disgust reflex is strong.
I wouldn't go out of my way to get some, but if I were offered any I'd eat it. It's just cheese. If there is any food I'd probably politely pass it'd be a century egg. Those genuinely look like...
I wouldn't go out of my way to get some, but if I were offered any I'd eat it. It's just cheese.
If there is any food I'd probably politely pass it'd be a century egg. Those genuinely look like they're inedible.
Honestly, that's crazy. Century eggs are just cured eggs. Putting it on the same level as maggot infested cheese seems insane to me. Do cured meats like salami or prosciutto also seem as inedible?...
Honestly, that's crazy. Century eggs are just cured eggs. Putting it on the same level as maggot infested cheese seems insane to me.
Do cured meats like salami or prosciutto also seem as inedible?
The colour is definitely a part of it. Yeah again, it's just lizard brain identifying it as spoiled. There's no rational thought in that decision. I already have difficulties with regular eggs...
The colour is definitely a part of it. Yeah again, it's just lizard brain identifying it as spoiled. There's no rational thought in that decision. I already have difficulties with regular eggs when they're still runny so it's probably an extension of that dislike.
Salami and prosciutto are fine, though I rarely eat those either but that's more a political conviction than anything else. At any rate, cured meats seem different to me because they retain a somewhat more appetizing look but I have to acknowledge cured meat is much more in line with my European cultural upbringing too. Century eggs are not, so not having been taught they exist until much later in life they simply look unappealing.
As for foods I have had and will never again is anything in aspik. That texture is just revolting.
Have you held one in person? To me, century eggs have such a strange texture and appearance that it automatically clocks as "yeah this is the result of human processing". Rotten food usually has a...
Have you held one in person? To me, century eggs have such a strange texture and appearance that it automatically clocks as "yeah this is the result of human processing". Rotten food usually has a variety of colors, often gray from mold, has a sludgey texture due to decomposition.
The whites of century eggs essentially looks like jell-o. It's something that you really don't see in nature at all. And then the inside is yolk which is pitch black. There also isn't usually pitch black things in nature. It has a firm texture, again like jell-o.
To be fair if CptBluebear doesn't like aspic, I don't think a century egg's gelatinous nature would be appealing at all. (I'd try one myself but haven't had the opportunity)
To be fair if CptBluebear doesn't like aspic, I don't think a century egg's gelatinous nature would be appealing at all.
(I'd try one myself but haven't had the opportunity)
You're right on the money. The mention of aspik wasn't accidental, such substances make me heave and are a crime against humanity. Only one of those is true. Unrelated, for some reason I never...
You're right on the money. The mention of aspik wasn't accidental, such substances make me heave and are a crime against humanity. Only one of those is true.
Unrelated, for some reason I never really dry heave.
The trick with century eggs is that the proteins are cured with salt and alkali, not biota. They're not rotten in any sense. The salinity and alkaline pH create a biocidal environment that...
The trick with century eggs is that the proteins are cured with salt and alkali, not biota. They're not rotten in any sense. The salinity and alkaline pH create a biocidal environment that preserves eggs for long storage without refrigeration. The nasty blackened yolks are off-putting, but they're perfectly safe to eat and a tasty addition to other foods.
Century eggs are delicious, though I've found the taste can vary depending on the region they are produced in. The ones I had imported from China while living in the US were very strong while the...
Century eggs are delicious, though I've found the taste can vary depending on the region they are produced in.
The ones I had imported from China while living in the US were very strong while the flavor of ones I've had produces locally in Malaysia have a less strong flavor.
Eating one by itself is a bit much, but eating them in a fried rice/porridge or in some vegetable dishes can work really well.
That may very well be and I trust they can't be all that bad considering there's a market for them, but looking at one does something to my lizard brain where it just tells me "no, this is no...
That may very well be and I trust they can't be all that bad considering there's a market for them, but looking at one does something to my lizard brain where it just tells me "no, this is no longer food because it has spoiled and might make you sick".
If you'd prepare a dish or a bowl of porridge with a century egg and didn't tell me I'd eat it and may very well like it too. It's really just a mental block based on how they look.
Uhm... I have tried it a couple of times. I have some relatives who still live in Sardinia and back in the days one in my uncle took out this little "treasure" for us to taste. The taste is very...
Uhm... I have tried it a couple of times. I have some relatives who still live in Sardinia and back in the days one in my uncle took out this little "treasure" for us to taste.
The taste is very strong, in my opinion, but not in a bad way. It is just a super charged pecorino cheese. But I do not suggest eating it in summer... I remember that after the first bite I felt hot in my face, like the blood was rushing in my cheeks and my nose.
The maggots are there and it is difficult not to think about them but I guess they are just living cheese now because after all they have spent all life there... What I found curious was they jumped, not a lot, but a bunch of them jumped out of the cheese so my uncle had to put a cloth on the cheese to avoid the great escaping :)
Not all the cheese is the same, the part with the maggots is the core and the the cheese is very very soft so much so you can eat it with a spoon. The borders are just regular hard pecorino cheese.
What else... Yes... It's illegal to produce and sell it but I think now a lot of these people who still look for casu marzu are old people who are accustomed to its taste and know how to get it... Or tourists looking for something peculiar so they they can tell a story once they come back home. I think it will eventually fade away in 50 years once the people who produce it retire...
I didn't know we would find someone who has tried it! Thanks for sharing. The article author didn't really specify if this was something just among the older generation (unless I missed it), just...
I didn't know we would find someone who has tried it! Thanks for sharing.
The article author didn't really specify if this was something just among the older generation (unless I missed it), just that it was chill amongst the locals, which makes me wonder if the author missed this aspect.
I can't talk for the whole island but from the part of Sardinia I know (the south west) I'd say the young generation is not super into that, at least... the young people i know are not interested...
I can't talk for the whole island but from the part of Sardinia I know (the south west) I'd say the young generation is not super into that, at least... the young people i know are not interested and some of them, even if they live there, consider it gross.
This, combined to the fact I am not completely sure it's that easy to get your hands on the cheese because i guess you need to to know the producer or someone who introduces you to him, makes casu marzu an endangered food species in my opinion.
I am pretty sure if you go in a restaurant not in a normal turist spot, or you go in the hinterland and visit your old relatives maybe they can offer you a taste of it... but as far as i know it has become more a curiosity to tickle the feelings of strangers or something to eat to highlight a special event (a dinner with relatives you rarely see, the lunch of the 15th of august, etc.) than something to consume regularly (as normal cheese, myrtle liqueur and the other food the land has to offer).
Can't say I'd go out of my way to try Casu Marzu, but most of us have (wittingly or unwittingly) eaten insects or their products at some point in our lives. If I can eat honey, drink wine that's...
Can't say I'd go out of my way to try Casu Marzu, but most of us have (wittingly or unwittingly) eaten insects or their products at some point in our lives. If I can eat honey, drink wine that's almost certainly had fruit fly larvae in the pressing, and consume flour (which has surprisingly loose U.S. restrictions), a humming cheese shouldn't put me off.
Honey is a very good comparison I think. But also most folks don't eat it honeycomb with the larvae included. (Also that's like, not good beekeeping I think). I have tried to think about eating...
Honey is a very good comparison I think. But also most folks don't eat it honeycomb with the larvae included. (Also that's like, not good beekeeping I think).
I have tried to think about eating grubs that are part of folks diets in other parts of the world and I'm not sure how easily I could get into that headspace either. But I'd like to think I could try
I didn't read this article because I've seen a documentary on it and have no desire to see any pictures of it ever again. We've probably all eaten at least a bug or two in our lives, be it via...
I didn't read this article because I've seen a documentary on it and have no desire to see any pictures of it ever again.
We've probably all eaten at least a bug or two in our lives, be it via something like chocolate or because nobody explicitly told us not to keep our mouths closed while riding a bike. Gnats end up in glasses of water all the time. Historically, most readings of lung ship voyages will at some point bring up infested flour.
What bothers me isn't actually the insects/grubs, though, it's the idea of eating something while it's still alive and moving. So this is on my list of things I'll probably never try. So are those little live squids folks enjoy so much in Korea. I wouldn't try gagh, either, even if it was real.
Understandable, there are both pics and video. The article itself was interesting in touching on the concept of disgust, and the potential for a bit of a Renaissance for the cheese.
Understandable, there are both pics and video. The article itself was interesting in touching on the concept of disgust, and the potential for a bit of a Renaissance for the cheese.
I don’t think I would. More than anything else I wouldn’t feel good about eating something living and therefore having to kill it. I try not to kill anything and so the fact that the maggots are...
I don’t think I would. More than anything else I wouldn’t feel good about eating something living and therefore having to kill it. I try not to kill anything and so the fact that the maggots are still living would probably be the line for me more than anything else.
That part I would be fine with. It’s less the ick, my base impulse was to say “yes”, it’s just that I won’t even slap a mosquito. I guess you could call it a moral line in the sand. So anything...
That part I would be fine with. It’s less the ick, my base impulse was to say “yes”, it’s just that I won’t even slap a mosquito. I guess you could call it a moral line in the sand. So anything that I have to physically kill something to eat it is a no.
Fair! My gut agrees, my brain thinks that people being more involved in hunting/killing their food would bring more respect back to the process and reduce abuse... But also idk that may of that...
Fair! My gut agrees, my brain thinks that people being more involved in hunting/killing their food would bring more respect back to the process and reduce abuse... But also idk that may of that applies to larvae
Fair warning here folks:
This article is about a cheese made by allowing a cheese fly to lay eggs in the cheese wheel. Then the larvae are allowed to eat and "process" the cheese. And then that pre-digested cheese is fed to humans.
While it's not the only food processed by animal digestive systems... The main ones I know about are coffee (civets and elephants) and neanderthals eating partially digested plants from their kills' stomachs. There are also a few similar cheeses out there. So. Um. Dip out if you don't want to read that!
The author makes what I think is a good point that all cheese is processed by other organisms, it's just that maggots are a bit larger than the other ones.
Despite it being illegal, no one seems to get in trouble for it. But nor will the EU legalize it.
So, Tildenianites would you try it?
Sure, I'd try it. I've had similarly "strange" foods, and I feel no obligation to continue eating something if I find it truly revolting. So far, I haven't bumped into any such foods.
I have definitely seen foods I'd be unlikely to try, balut for example seems a textural nightmare. Similarly ortolan. (I couldn't think of the name and almost called it a "shame sparrow")
But yeah I get it. Just not sure I can overcome my very western/modern/privileged "bug free" diet.
Alcohol and peer pressure definitely helped considerably when it came to balut. The texture wasn't actually that bad, although I've been told it can vary with them getting distinctly 'crunchy' if they're further along which I think would be a step too far for me.
For myself
I have been familiar with casu marzu for quite a while, my maternal family is from Sardinia and I discovered it when doing some research on, well, all sorts of things including foodways. I've never been, and I think I would try it if I could from people who know how to make it, but the disgust reflex is strong.
I'd definitely try it, I'm open to try just about any food once.
I wouldn't go out of my way to get some, but if I were offered any I'd eat it. It's just cheese.
If there is any food I'd probably politely pass it'd be a century egg. Those genuinely look like they're inedible.
Honestly, that's crazy. Century eggs are just cured eggs. Putting it on the same level as maggot infested cheese seems insane to me.
Do cured meats like salami or prosciutto also seem as inedible?
Is it just because it turns black?
The colour is definitely a part of it. Yeah again, it's just lizard brain identifying it as spoiled. There's no rational thought in that decision. I already have difficulties with regular eggs when they're still runny so it's probably an extension of that dislike.
Salami and prosciutto are fine, though I rarely eat those either but that's more a political conviction than anything else. At any rate, cured meats seem different to me because they retain a somewhat more appetizing look but I have to acknowledge cured meat is much more in line with my European cultural upbringing too. Century eggs are not, so not having been taught they exist until much later in life they simply look unappealing.
As for foods I have had and will never again is anything in aspik. That texture is just revolting.
Have you held one in person? To me, century eggs have such a strange texture and appearance that it automatically clocks as "yeah this is the result of human processing". Rotten food usually has a variety of colors, often gray from mold, has a sludgey texture due to decomposition.
The whites of century eggs essentially looks like jell-o. It's something that you really don't see in nature at all. And then the inside is yolk which is pitch black. There also isn't usually pitch black things in nature. It has a firm texture, again like jell-o.
To be fair if CptBluebear doesn't like aspic, I don't think a century egg's gelatinous nature would be appealing at all.
(I'd try one myself but haven't had the opportunity)
You're right on the money. The mention of aspik wasn't accidental, such substances make me heave and are a crime against humanity. Only one of those is true.
Unrelated, for some reason I never really dry heave.
The trick with century eggs is that the proteins are cured with salt and alkali, not biota. They're not rotten in any sense. The salinity and alkaline pH create a biocidal environment that preserves eggs for long storage without refrigeration. The nasty blackened yolks are off-putting, but they're perfectly safe to eat and a tasty addition to other foods.
Century eggs are delicious, though I've found the taste can vary depending on the region they are produced in.
The ones I had imported from China while living in the US were very strong while the flavor of ones I've had produces locally in Malaysia have a less strong flavor.
Eating one by itself is a bit much, but eating them in a fried rice/porridge or in some vegetable dishes can work really well.
That may very well be and I trust they can't be all that bad considering there's a market for them, but looking at one does something to my lizard brain where it just tells me "no, this is no longer food because it has spoiled and might make you sick".
If you'd prepare a dish or a bowl of porridge with a century egg and didn't tell me I'd eat it and may very well like it too. It's really just a mental block based on how they look.
I've had one on a dish before. If you're curious about the flavor, most of what I got was salt.
If you thought that was good, wait until you try the virgin boy egg!
Uhm... I have tried it a couple of times. I have some relatives who still live in Sardinia and back in the days one in my uncle took out this little "treasure" for us to taste.
The taste is very strong, in my opinion, but not in a bad way. It is just a super charged pecorino cheese. But I do not suggest eating it in summer... I remember that after the first bite I felt hot in my face, like the blood was rushing in my cheeks and my nose.
The maggots are there and it is difficult not to think about them but I guess they are just living cheese now because after all they have spent all life there... What I found curious was they jumped, not a lot, but a bunch of them jumped out of the cheese so my uncle had to put a cloth on the cheese to avoid the great escaping :)
Not all the cheese is the same, the part with the maggots is the core and the the cheese is very very soft so much so you can eat it with a spoon. The borders are just regular hard pecorino cheese.
What else... Yes... It's illegal to produce and sell it but I think now a lot of these people who still look for casu marzu are old people who are accustomed to its taste and know how to get it... Or tourists looking for something peculiar so they they can tell a story once they come back home. I think it will eventually fade away in 50 years once the people who produce it retire...
I genuinely gagged reading this man oh my god
I didn't know we would find someone who has tried it! Thanks for sharing.
The article author didn't really specify if this was something just among the older generation (unless I missed it), just that it was chill amongst the locals, which makes me wonder if the author missed this aspect.
I can't talk for the whole island but from the part of Sardinia I know (the south west) I'd say the young generation is not super into that, at least... the young people i know are not interested and some of them, even if they live there, consider it gross.
This, combined to the fact I am not completely sure it's that easy to get your hands on the cheese because i guess you need to to know the producer or someone who introduces you to him, makes casu marzu an endangered food species in my opinion.
I am pretty sure if you go in a restaurant not in a normal turist spot, or you go in the hinterland and visit your old relatives maybe they can offer you a taste of it... but as far as i know it has become more a curiosity to tickle the feelings of strangers or something to eat to highlight a special event (a dinner with relatives you rarely see, the lunch of the 15th of august, etc.) than something to consume regularly (as normal cheese, myrtle liqueur and the other food the land has to offer).
Can't say I'd go out of my way to try Casu Marzu, but most of us have (wittingly or unwittingly) eaten insects or their products at some point in our lives. If I can eat honey, drink wine that's almost certainly had fruit fly larvae in the pressing, and consume flour (which has surprisingly loose U.S. restrictions), a humming cheese shouldn't put me off.
Honey is a very good comparison I think. But also most folks don't eat it honeycomb with the larvae included. (Also that's like, not good beekeeping I think).
I have tried to think about eating grubs that are part of folks diets in other parts of the world and I'm not sure how easily I could get into that headspace either. But I'd like to think I could try
I didn't read this article because I've seen a documentary on it and have no desire to see any pictures of it ever again.
We've probably all eaten at least a bug or two in our lives, be it via something like chocolate or because nobody explicitly told us not to keep our mouths closed while riding a bike. Gnats end up in glasses of water all the time. Historically, most readings of lung ship voyages will at some point bring up infested flour.
What bothers me isn't actually the insects/grubs, though, it's the idea of eating something while it's still alive and moving. So this is on my list of things I'll probably never try. So are those little live squids folks enjoy so much in Korea. I wouldn't try gagh, either, even if it was real.
Understandable, there are both pics and video. The article itself was interesting in touching on the concept of disgust, and the potential for a bit of a Renaissance for the cheese.
I don’t think I would. More than anything else I wouldn’t feel good about eating something living and therefore having to kill it. I try not to kill anything and so the fact that the maggots are still living would probably be the line for me more than anything else.
Fwiw you don't have to eat the maggots but I do get that being a particular ick.
That part I would be fine with. It’s less the ick, my base impulse was to say “yes”, it’s just that I won’t even slap a mosquito. I guess you could call it a moral line in the sand. So anything that I have to physically kill something to eat it is a no.
Fair! My gut agrees, my brain thinks that people being more involved in hunting/killing their food would bring more respect back to the process and reduce abuse... But also idk that may of that applies to larvae