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Would You Eat This Cheese?

In Sardinia, you may find a few hundred bugs in your cheese. And that’s exactly the way it’s supposed to be.  

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crackers in front ofa wheel of cheese

LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images

This Cheese Hasn't Gone Bad. 
It’s made with maggots inside on purpose!

a sheep

Shutterstock.com

Casu marzu starts with sheep’s milk.

    If you like cheese, Italy is the place to go. There’s Parmesan for your pasta, mozzarella for your pizza, and provolone for your salami sandwich. 

    But there’s one kind of Italian cheese that’s hard to find. It’s called casu marzu (KAH-zoo MART-zoo)—and in Italy, it’s illegal to sell it.

    Why would selling cheese be against the law? To find out, let’s visit the Italian island of Sardinia. Cheese makers there have been making casu marzu for hundreds of years. And if you’re lucky, you’ll find someone willing to give you a taste. 

    Sit down. Watch while your host cuts open a big wheel of creamy casu marzu. And—wait! The cheese looks like it’s alive. You look closer, and now you understand. There are hundreds of maggots squirming in the cheese.

A Delicious Accident

two maggots

Science Photo Library/Alamy Stock Photo; The Natural History Museum/Alamy Stock Photo

    How did bug-infested cheese become an important tradition? The first wheel of casu marzu was probably made by accident. Sheep’s milk was heated and left to harden. Maybe a door or a window was left open. As the milk turned to cheese, flies laid their eggs inside. 

    Soon the eggs hatched into maggots, and the maggots went to work. They ate the cheese and—yes—pooped it out again. The result? A rich, spreadable cheese with a really strong flavor and a name that fits. Casu marzu means “rotten cheese.”

Bugs for Breakfast?

enlargeable locator map of Sardinia in Italy

Jim McMahon/Mapman ®

    Today, Sardinian cheese makers are proud of their casu marzu. They leave the milk out on purpose to attract flies. Cheese makers are allowed to make the cheese and share it with friends. But insects can carry germs, so food safety laws ban the sale of casu marzu.

    Many Sardinians want those laws to change. They say no one has gotten sick from casu marzu. And they point out that for many people, eating insects is normal. Nearly one-third of the world’s population eats bugs for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Ants are steamed or dried in the sun. Crickets are ground into flour for bread. Caterpillars are fried into a crunchy, delicious snack. 

    Prepared with a little loving care, many insects can be pretty tasty. So should we really worry about a few maggots in our cheese? 

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Where in the World

Higher Level: Would You Eat This Cheese?

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