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.
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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.